When In Doubt, Cook it Out

Two foods that I enjoy that go bad quickly are spinach and fish. It can become discouraging because they aren’t cheap foods either.

So, if you remember the tips from the Dietitian, JoAnn Daehler-Miller, from the University of Iowa Student Health and Wellness, she said a good way to make those foods last longer is to cook them.

I found two recipes that are not only easy to make, but have a lot of ingredients in them that I already have in my apartment. I didn’t see a point in going out and buying a bunch of ingredients for an extravagant meal for just myself.

Recipe 1: MaMa’s Supper Club Tilapia Parmesan

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
2 lbs tilapia fillets     (orange roughy, cod or red snapper can be substituted)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt (I like Old Bay seasoning here)
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
black pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In buttered 13-by-9-inch baking dish or jellyroll pan, lay fillets in single layer.
Do not stack fillets.
Brush top with juice.
In bowl combine cheese, butter, mayonnaise, onions and seasonings.
Mix well with fork.
Bake fish in preheated oven 10 to 20 minutes or until fish just starts to flake.
Spread with cheese mixture and bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Baking time will depend on the thickness of the fish you use.
Watch fish closely so that it does not overcook.
Makes 4 servings.
Note: This fish can also be made in a broiler.
Broil 3 to 4 minutes or until almost done.
Add cheese and broil another 2 to 3 minutes or until browned.

Thank you Mama’s Supper Club in Wisconsin.

 

For this dish, you can take or leave the lemon juice and the hot sauce. I personally like them both so I used them. This recipe was easy to make and I enjoyed it.

This meal only cost me $6 because like I said, almost all the ingredients I already had in my apartment. The fish I bought was from HyVee.

 

Recipe 2: Egg Muffins

Makes 12 muffins (2 eggs each)
Ingredients:
1 carton of egg whites or 24 egg whites.
Options:
Baby spinach
chopped onion
chopped red pepper
chopped jalapeno
chopped ham or canadian bacon
chopped mushrooms
Sriracha sauce
shredded cheese

Directions: 
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Choose ingredients you prefer to use and maybe mix it up, so you have something different every day. chop if necessary.
-Spray pan
-Add chopped ingredients to each cup
-Add 1/3 cup liquid egg whites or 2 egg whites per cup
-Bake for 30 minutes.
-Immediately remove and let cool on a rack. Once cool, place 2 in a ziplock bag with no air to keep them all week in the fridge. In the morning, remove from bag and heat in microwave for 1 minute.

 

My favorite thing about this dish is that you can put in it whatever you like. The only major ingredient that is required are the eggs/egg whites. For mine I just used whole eggs because they are cheaper than the egg whites. For a carton of eggs at HyVee it is $1.69.

So for my egg muffins I chopped up yellow and orange sweet peppers and one tomato (plus the spinach of course). I didn’t have a chance to buy sausage or bacon for it but next time I am definitely going to add it. Again, you can take or leave the hot sauce. I liked it personally because it added a little extra kick of flavor to the muffin.

It is so easy to make and lasts the whole week for breakfast. This meal only cost me $10 and that was because the spinach was a bit pricey.

Quiona: How it Will Help You Save Money in a Delicious Way

As I was browsing my usual social media accounts (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) I came across this article on the account Buzzfeed Food called “21 Meat Alternatives You Should Be Cooking With.” Now, I love my meats as much as the next person, but I was curious so I went ahead and read the article anyway.

I was surprisingly pleased with the ideas this article gave and it brought to my attention some of the foods that I could make that would help me save money in the long run. A good example is one item in particular that has had a lot of  hype: quinoa (I added a link in case you aren’t sure what quinoa is).

I was first exposed to quinoa this semester because all of my roommates (yes all of them) eat it. I was skeptical to try it, since it kind of had a funny look to it. But my roommates assured me that I would like it and that it was not only good for you, but was also very filling. So, I tried it.

here is what the quiona grain looks like before it is cooked (picture via http://www.oaquinoa.com/wp-content/uploads/wp-checkout/images/white-quinoa-bag-1359589659.jpg)

 here is what [red] quinoa looks like once it is cooked (picture via http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Red_quinoa.png)

And I love it. It takes maybe 15 minutes to make it from the package that it comes in and makes a ton as well. What I like to do is make it as is and then put it away into a Tuberware or Ziplock container. When I want it, I can then pull it out and put whatever I want with it. I find quinoa to be a little bland when I first make it, so I put it with things like: hummus, corn, tomato sauce with mozzarella, or basically anything I think it would be good with. I recently counted how many meals I got out of one bag of quinoa and it was 5. 5 meals of all different flavors and types of food, I was very impressed.

Quinoa is sold at the New Pioneer Food Co-op, Bread Garden Market, and Target. There are many forms that quinoa can come in as well.

• At Target you can buy quinoa pasta, seeds to boil, and quiona dry clusters for between $5-$10 depending on what you buy.
• At New Pioneer you can buy quiona pasta and quinoa burgers (which are my personal favorite) for between $6-$14 depending on what you buy.
• At Bread Garden you can buy the items from above as well for between $5-$12 depending on what you buy.

These numbers may seem like a lot and they are a little pricey, but for as many meals and as many forms that you can get quiona in, I would definitely recommend it. It is good for you and and lasts for a while.

Here are some quiona recipes as provided by Buzzfeed Food: http://www.buzzfeed.com/chelseypippin/21-ingenious-alternatives-to-meat (quinoa is #9 on the list).