Delicious Mediterranean Chicken with Orzo

I had a few chicken breasts chillin (literally) in my freezer, so I searched through my Betty Crocker cookbook to find something to cook with them. The Mediterranean Chicken with Rosemary Orzo recipe was the one that looked the tastiest and didn't require a thousand ingredients to make.

Stuff you should obtain:
1 lb chicken breast tenders
1 14oz can chicken broth
8oz orzo
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 zucchini
3 roma tomatoes
1 bell pepper
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Notes about ingredients: To create the "breast tenders" you can just slice chicken breasts into 1-inch strips. I probably ended up making far more than I was supposed to for this recipe - I used 1.5 lbs of chicken, and all of my vegetables were really large. Still turned out fine though. Also, orzo is pasta that resembles rice - it's not rice, despite what it looks like. I found it in the international food aisle at my crappy grocery (in the Kosher section of all places).

What you should do:
1) Chop all the veggies!
This took forever for me, so you definitely want to start this before you start cooking the chicken. The zucchini and tomatoes should be cut lengthwise into fourths and then cut into slices. Think bigger chunks of vegetables, not fine slices.

2) Cook the chicken!
Nobody likes salmonella. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook the chicken over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the chicken is brown. I used a regular 10" frying pan, but had to switch to a larger pan once I added everything else for this recipe - bigger is better!

3) Add stuff!
Add the chicken broth, orzo, and garlic. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 8 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone. I mistakenly added the water in this step, although I don't think it really changed anything.

4) Add more stuff!
After simmering for 8 minutes, add all of the other ingredients. This is the point where you realize if your pan is large enough for this meal or not. If not, just dump it all into a bigger saucepan and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

5) Enjoy!
Congrats! You have created a delicious chicken dish!

Leftover Capability:
I made this for two people - we both ate multiple servings and there was definitely two meals left over after that. So probably a solid 5-6 plates out of this dish.

But What About My Money?:

Chicken breasts (2 lb package)	$4.06
Chicken broth	$0.75
Orzo	$2.39
Garlic	$0.50
2 Zucchini	$2.17
3 Tomatoes	$0.57
Bell Pepper	$0.50
Rosemary	$3.19
Total	$14.13

The total price is a little misleading for this dish, as I didn't use one of the three chicken breasts in the package (they were huge), and I definitely didn't use the whole thing of rosemary. However, if you assume that you get 5 plates out of this meal, that's about $2.83 per plate. So still extremely cheap, and you get to eat a vegetable-laden meal, something I know I don't cook that often.

Final Grade: A
I thought the taste for this dish was great, and it was pretty easy to make - just cut everything up and cook it in a pan. I definitely liked that it had a lot of veggies and it was a type of meal that I don't normally eat, so it was a nice change. Definitely recommended and I'm definitely going to make this again.

Super easy parfaits!

Here's a quick way to make a really tasty dessert - that's also kind of healthy for you!

Stuff you should obtain:
3 containers of vanilla yogurt
Several strawberries
Graham crackers

Notes about ingredients: This was originally a dessert for two, so the three containers (of 6oz yogurt) reflects. About 1.5 containers went into each parfait, so if you're only making one you can probably get two containers or a larger ~9oz container. Yay math!

Also, strawberries happened to be what was on sale that day. Any kind of fruit will work, so get your own personal favorite!

What you should do:
1) Cut up the strawberries!
We cut the strawberries into very thin slices. If you have one of those egg slicer things, it will definitely cut down on the work for you. We probably used about 6 huge strawberries, but it kind of depends on the size of berry and the size of the glass you're trying to put this in.

2) Dump out the yogurt!
Just as the step says, put the yogurt in your vessel of choice. We used tall drinking glasses, but any tall shaped thing would probably work. Make sure to leave enough room for all of your fruit!

3) Layer!
Put the strawberries on top of the yogurt in the glass. Finally, crumble a graham cracker (I used the cinnamon sugar coated kind) on top.

4) Mix and Enjoy!

Leftover Capability:
There were quite a few strawberries left and almost the entire box of graham crackers left. So no yogurt to make another parfait, but definitely enough left for snacks!

But What About My Money?:

3 yogurt containers	$1.20
Graham Crackers	$4.19
Strawberries	$2.99
Total:	$8.38

It comes out to approximately $4.19 per parfait, but that's including the huge box of graham crackers and a lot of leftover strawberries. Still worth the cost to get a different dessert though.

Final Grade: A
Easy and tasty. The college student's dream!

Bacon-Wrapped Cheese-Stuffed Tater Tots

I got this recipe out of my campus newspaper. Obviously I was attracted to absolutely everything about this recipe - bacon and cheese together? How could I not attempt to make this?

Stuff you should obtain:
24 Tater tots
12 strips of bacon
Cheddar cheese
Toothpicks

Notes about ingredients: The recipe gives exact numbers, but what happened was I just used up all of the bacon in the pack, which was 15 pieces I think. You will have tater tots left over.

What you should do:
1) Preheat the oven!
Whaddaya know, I actually managed to remember this time! 450 degrees, do it! Also, spray a baking sheet with Pam, although that didn't really help me in the end. And make sure the baking sheet has sides! This became apparent to me after I took the tots out of the oven. But more about that later.

2) Prepare the tater tots!
You're supposed to cut a slit into partially defrosted tater tots and put a "chunk" of cheddar cheese inside. I put the bag of tater tots in the fridge to defrost, but that didn't really help until the tater tots had been left out for a good 10 minutes. So for the first few, I was hacking into the tater tot and ended up slicing them in half. As for the "chunk"s of cheese, I just grabbed some shredded cheese and shoved it in the slit, or between the tater tot halves. Shredded cheese got everywhere, so there was also cheese on top of the tater tot as well.

3) Prepare the bacon!
Take the strip of bacon and slice it in half. Take the half of bacon and wrap it around the stuffed tater tot. Stab a toothpick through it and place on the baking sheet.

4) Cook the deliciousness!
Place the baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes or until the bacon is crispy. For me, this was until the bacon was crispy, which was probably more like 20-25 minutes than 15.

5) Take out the tater tots!
Remember when I told you to make sure the baking sheet had sides to it? Well, if it doesn't, the grease from the bacon will begin to drip off the sides of the sheet onto the bottom of the oven. This will then cause smoke, which will then cause the smoke alarm to go off, which will then cause your apartment to smoke up and smell like bacon grease for the next three days. Then you'll need your friend with ninja skills to get the pan out of the oven without smoking up your apartment more and in the process he'll drip grease all over your kitchen and you'll end up serving the tater tots over your sink. So, yeah, make sure that doesn't happen.

6) Eat!
If you like bacon and cheese, you will like this recipe. If you don't like bacon and cheese, you'll still like this recipe, or at least that's what my bacon-hating friend told me.

Leftover Capability:
There were some tater tots leftover from the party, but I don't think this recipe will reheat very well. So no leftovers for you!

But What About My Money?:

Baon	$3.99
Bag of tater tots	$2.59
Shredded cheese	$2.50
Total:	$9.08

This recipe made about 30 bacon-wrapped cheese-stuffed tater tots, so it comes out to about $0.30 per tot. Maybe not the cheapest thing, but definitely worth it for a cool party food.

Final Grade: A-
This recipe loses points for being really messy to create and for making my apartment smell like bacon grease for days. But it does make a delicious party snack and will earn you lots of points with your bacon loving friends.

Delicious Easy Chili

Last week I had a Super Bowl party for several of my friends. With food being the most important part of a football-related party, I was determined to make a good dish for everyone who showed up. This chili, taken from one of my mom's random cookbooks, was low maintenance and, more importantly, wonderfully tasty!

Stuff you should obtain:
2 lbs ground beef
2 16-oz cans kidney beans, drained
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
shredded cheese
3 cups uncooked rice

Notes about ingredients: The recipe called for an optional 2 teaspoons of salt so I added the mean amount. Also, make sure to remember the can of tomato sauce, as you don't want to have to run out the morning of the party to buy a 37 cent can of tomato sauce. My mother reminded me multiple times to drain the kidney beans thoroughly. I don't know what happens if you don't do that, but I wasn't willing to risk it. This is a very large recipe, as it has about ten servings.

What you should do:

1) Prepare the slow cooker!
What made this recipe so easy was the fact that my roommate owned an old Crock-Pot. A tip from my mother was to make sure to spray Pam on the ceramic bowl before putting all the ingredients in - it makes cleanup a lot easier, as all the food particles just slide right off.

2) Chop the vegetables!
Chop the onions and green pepper into medium sized pieces. The onions will likely make you cry, so be prepared for that. Also, for the uninitiated, "minced" means chopped really small, so this is the time to take two of the garlic cloves (or natural chunks of garlic) and cut them into really fine parts.

3) Brown the ground beef!
Just plop the beef in a large frying pan and stir it until there's no pink left. Make sure to drain off all the fat, especially if you bought a cheaper and fattier kind of ground beef.

4) Put it all in the cooker!
Just place all of the ingredients, besides the cheese and rice, inside the Crock-Pot. The recipe says to cook it on high 4 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Slower cooking will give the chili better flavor. If you happen to get up too late to start the chili 8 hours beforehand, you could do what I did and cook it for 2 hours on high and 4 on low. I did stir the chili occasionally while it was cooking, although that may or may not be necessary.

5) Steam the rice!
About 30-35 minutes before you're serving the chili, you should start to steam the rice. Essentially, just add the amount of water on the box, bring it to a boil, and then let the rice simmer until the water is boiled away. I used 3 cups of rice because I thought I would have a lot of people - it ended up being a little bit too much, so adjust the amount of rice to the people you're cooking for.

6) Eat the chili!
After the chili is done, just put some rice in the bottom of the bowl, then pour some chili over it. Add some cheese on top if you want to be super special. Congratulations, you have easily made delicious chili!

Leftover Capability:
This chili is supposed to serve ten. So if you don't have ten people - expect a lot of leftovers! The good news is that this chili tastes just as good reheated in the microwave.

But What About My Money?:

2 lbs ground beef	$8.27
2 cans kidney beans	$1.38
2 cans tomatoes	$1.98
1 can tomato sauce	$0.37
2 onions	$2.24
1 bell pepper	$0.50
1 bulb garlic	$0.50
Box of Rice	$3.79
Total:	$19.03

Since this makes ten servings, each serving of chili cost $1.90 to make, plus a little bit more for the spices if you had to buy them. This means that this is an excellent choice for a cheap way to serve many people.

Final Grade: A+
I got a lot of complements on the taste of this chili recipe, and the price and simplicity make this an excellent recipe for a party, or just for making something with a lot of leftovers.

How to cook omelets?

Upon realizing that there was no "real people" breakfast food in my apartment, my boyfriend decided that we should make omelets, despite not having any idea of how to do so. And instead of using the internet to look up how to make one, he decided that we should just be able to wing it. The results were pretty good, although how much they resemble omelets is debatable.

Stuff you should obtain:
3-4 eggs
Pre-diced ham
1 bell pepper
1 red onion
Shredded cheese

Notes about ingredients: Obviously, one of the best parts about an omelet is that you get to put whatever you want into it. Generally for me this would mean whatever is randomly in my refrigerator, but since I went to the store to specifically get ingredients, I ended up with a better selection.

What you should do:
1) Cut up all your ingredients!
This takes a stupidly long time to do, specifically if you only have one decent knife and one person with borderline knife skills who is scared of knives. I tend to think that smaller pieces are better in this case, but if you get fed up with cutting things just dump in huge chunks of onion. I won't judge.

2) Whisk your eggs!
We made two omelets, one for both of us. I was pretty satisfied with 3 eggs and my boyfriend was good with 4. However many you use, just dump them in a bowl and whisk them around. A fork will suffice if you're not fancy enough to have a whisk.

At this point we used two different methods for each omelet, both with varied success. The first one kind of got overcooked eggs but looked like an omelet and the second one had nicely cooked eggs but only kind of looked right.

Version 1:
3) Cook the eggs!
Pour the whisked eggs into a frying pan with medium-low heat. And just sit there and watch it cook for a while until you decide you want to flip it. Mine was getting kind of cooked through on the top when I flipped it, and it resulted in a really brown-ish cooked side. Because there was no way of actually cooking the ingredients this way, we just kind of dumped the ingredients on top of the egg so they got a little warm. Once the underside was cooked, which didn't take long, the omelet was transferred to a plate.

Version 1

Version 2:
3) Cook the eggs!
In this version the eggs were poured in the pan just like the first omelet. After it cooked for a few minutes, but while the eggs were still runny, the ingredients were plopped in the middle. Once I thought the bottom of the egg was firm enough, I flipped it over the ingredients to make a half-moon shape. I flipped it a few times, trying to make sure that the inside didn't have any uncooked egg, but also trying to make sure that the outside didn't burn. Luckily, the egg didn't burn, but the omelet fell apart in places and the ingredients started to spew out.

Version 2

4) Eat the omelet!
What are you waiting for? Eat your delicious breakfast!

Leftover Capability:
An omelet is kind of a one-off meal - there's really not much to be said for leftovers. However, even after making two omelets, I had leftover ingredients of everything.

But What About My Money?:

1 dozen eggs	$1.79
1 bell pepper	$0.89
1 package diced ham	$3.59
1 red onion	$1.27
Total:	$7.54

Considering I made two omelets, this comes out to $3.77 per omelet, not including the leftover ingredients. Definitely a bargain compared to eating out.

Final Grade: B+
This meal gets a B+ from me not because of taste, but primarily because of execution. It tasted really good, especially with the mix of ingredients I used. However, I think that the way I cooked the egg part of the omelet didn't really turn out the way that I'm used to getting it in a restaurant. I'm definitely going to have to experiment to see what works better in the future.

How NOT to cook chicken

I found this really awesome recipe where you bread chicken breasts with sour cream and onion chips and then pan fry it. It sounded really really good and I was feeling adventurous so I decided to try it.

As you can tell from the picture above, it ended poorly, with the smoke alarm going off, oil burns on my hand, and disgusting blackened chicken. This post will detail what I did so that you don't do the same thing.

Stuff you shouldn't obtain:
Chicken breasts (4)
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1 egg
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cups sour cream and onion chips

Notes about ingredients:
Like an intelligent person, I didn't actually buy chicken breasts but chicken breast tenderloins, which are like chicken breasts cut up into slices. This might have contributed to the debacle that was this meal.

What you shouldn't do:
The plan was to crush the sour cream and onion chips and add parsley, dip the chicken breasts in the Worcester Sauce and egg combination, then in the chips and then pan fry the breasts for 10 minutes or so.

Everything was going well until I actually had to place the chicken in the pan. The potato chip covering blackened within about 30 seconds, the smoke alarm going off shortly afterwards. The conclusions my friends and I came up with was that one of the following went wrong:
- Too little oil in the pan
- Oil was too hot
- Cooked in the wrong kind of pan (how the heck you can cook something in a wrong kind of pan is beyond me, but my one friend was convinced of this)
- Chicken tenderloins is not the way to go

My conclusion? It's going to be a while before I try to pan fry anything. But the Zatarain's Rice Pilaf I made to accompany the chicken was amazingly tasty, even with forgetting to stir it while I was trying to salvage the chicken. Definitely recommended.

But What About My Money?:
This meal was the equivalent of taking the money I spent on the chicken and other parts and setting it on fire. It would have given me the same amount of food, and probably less smoke to fill up my apartment.

Final Grade: Incomplete
I think this could be a good recipe, if executed properly. Maybe I'll pull this out when I feel a little bit more comfortable with cooking with oil.

Yummy Chicken Parmesan

I took a risk today and made something that I had never made before, and had never seen made. Despite being a new recipe, it was easy to make and turned out really well! I used the Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe found here.

Stuff you should obtain:
4 chicken breasts
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
Bread Crumbs
Olive Oil
Slices of Mozzarella Cheese
16 oz Spaghetti Sauce
Parmesan Cheese

Notes about ingredients:
I created four chicken breasts by taking two large ones and slicing them in half. This also makes them less thick so they will cook faster and have a better likelihood of getting cooked through.

What you should do:
1) Preheat the stupid oven!
I am really bad about remembering to do this. 350 degrees. Do it.

2) Prepare ingredients!
Pour olive oil into a frying pan and begin to heat - the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but I found that I needed a bit more than that. Then take the egg and the milk and whisk them together in a bowl. Then pour some breadcrumbs onto a plate - I probably used a third of a cup, although I didn't measure and had some left over.

3) Prepare the chicken!
Dip the chicken breast in the egg/milk combo and then place into the breadcrumbs to coat it on both sides.

4) Cook the chicken!
Place the breadcrumb coated chicken into the frying pan. Cook about 3-4 minutes on both sides or until you decide the chicken is too brown to leave in any longer. After cooking, place into a casserole pan.

5) Prepare the rest!
Cover the chicken breasts with the slices of mozzarella cheese. Then pour spaghetti sauce over everything, using enough to make sure all the chicken is covered. Dump parmesan cheese on top, and if you want even more cheese (who doesn't?), add shredded mozzarella on top of that.

6) Bake!
Bake the chicken at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

7) Enjoy!
Congratulations! You have made delicious chicken parmesan!

Leftover Capability:
I don't eat a lot and I also made steam fresh broccoli, so I only ate one of the chicken breasts, leaving 3 more for leftovers. That's definitely a lot of chicken for one!

But What About My Money?:

Boneless Chicken Breast	$5.28
Milk	$2.23
Bread Crumbs	$1.05
Mozzarella Cheese	$2.59
Spaghetti Sauce	$2.00
Parmesan Cheese	$3.29
Total:	$16.44

Factoring in the leftover capability and this comes out to about $4.11 per meal - not too shabby and definitely cheaper than any chicken parmesan you would buy at a restaurant.

Final Grade: A+
I was amazed at how well this recipe turned out. The chicken was really tender and full of flavor. And it didn't require much work at all! I will definitely be making this again and recommend this recipe to anyone who likes a good meal.