Fast potato

This is my 0 spoons go to. You can use a regular or sweet potato. Either way is yum! Who doesn't like potatoes?

Ingredients

Directions

Lentils & Rice

One of the cheapest, easiest meals I know of; tastes pretty decent even with just salt and pepper, but can be wonderfully flavorful if you have the budget to invest in a few spices. (Lots of folks know this I'm sure, but in case you don't: you can save a lot on seasonings at most Asian or Hispanic markets if there's one near you, or if you shop at a big-box-type grocery, they probably have a sort-of-hidden little wall or stand [look around the produce] with spices that come in bags from a more generic brand instead of the expensive bottled ones you find in the main aisles.)

One pot, no chopping if you use only powdered seasonings. Makes about four hearty servings. Leftovers are great warmed up, but also taste pretty decent cold, in a pinch.

Essentials:

Optional seasonings - onion, garlic and broth/bullion are the basic easy ways to add flavor:

Instructions:

Heat a little oil in a saucepan/pot (2.5 or 3 quarts is good) and cook your onions, stirring occasionally, until quite soft. If you like them caramelized, keep the heat on low and let them sit a little more until they start to brown.

Add your garlic when the onions are almost done and cook for a minute or two until you can smell it.

Add your other seasonings and let them fry a bit until they smell nice and strong too. (If you don't have fresh onion and garlic, it's still nice to cook the spices in oil before you add the water and everything; flavors are stronger that way.)

Add your water/broth. If you have white rice, add both the rice and lentils; bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. If you have brown rice, add that alone; bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes, then add the lentils and keep simmering for another 20-25 minutes.

Feel free to taste to see when the texture gets to your liking. The times above leave things slightly on the firm side, but you can always add another 1/4 cup of water if it's mostly boiled away and you think you'd like it softer.

Drizzle with more oil just before serving.

German red cabbage

Ingredients: One head red cabbage, shredded, heart removed 1/2 onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 small apple, peeled and diced 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon oil 2-3 tablespoons sugar (optional) 1/4 teaspoon allspice Salt/pepper Directions: 1. In a large pot with a lid, heat oil medium-high. Cook the garlic and onions until fragrant. Add apple, and cook 1 mintue. 2. Add cabbage. Stir so that all the cabbage is wilted. 3. Add vinegar and cover pot. Turn heat to medium low. 4. Let it cook 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 5. Add salt, pepper, allspice, and sugar to taste. 6. Keep covered and simmering, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is as soft as you like.

No more ramen-ramen...

So I know this blog is trying to get people away from those packaged ramen noodles (and I understand why) but when my wife was pregnant she craved ramen and I wouldn’t make her the packaged stuff (it has a ton of MSG) so I got a little creative. Traditionally ramen is noodles served in hot broth. So here is my recipe Things you will need: Pot A spoon Your imagination Ingredients: Broth your choice (my wife likes chicken broth but you could use any, I haven’t tried it with veggie broth but it would still work) Rice noodles (I prefer the stick noodles but any will work) Veggies! Things like peas, bean sprouts etc. are all really good And Soy (my favorite soy is silver swan but any will work really) Soft boiled egg (optional) Meat ( if you are using chicken broth I suggest chicken, beef with beef etc.)(optional) Directions: Prepare the rice noodles according to directions on package. Warm your broth separately (I find this gives the soup a better flavor) and season with soy to taste. Put the broth in your serving vessel of choice and place noodles in second, top with meat and raw veggies and egg, if you wish to you can also garnish with a piece of seasoned seaweed. This on my opinion tastes better than the packaged version and even better you can control what you are putting into it. I have seen people use tofu in the place of meat. This is a simple recipe and as long as the broth is nice and hot the options are limitless!

Cold Peanut Sauce Noodles

Okay, a bit of backstory:

I've gone all of May and June with no paycheck (yay graduate school!) and writing my July rent check wiped out my checking account. And the postal service lost my tax refund, so that was money I was relying on that I can't get for another three weeks. So I'm going "oh dear oh dear oh dear how will I feed myself until [various little things I've been expecting] pop in?" 

(N.B.: I did not say "oh dear," but I want to keep this submission family-friendly.

A couple of notes: I have tagged this recipe as "vegan" and "vegetarian." It is definitely vegetarian in its base (but you can add meat if you have it and want it). I didn't check my ingredients to see if they were all vegan, but if you're vegan, my guess is that what you have handy for this is also vegan. Because it's vegetarian, it's kosher. I express no opinion on whether it's halal. SO, without further ado, here's how I fed myself for almost three days:

1. Start your favorite pasta boiling. No, it doesn't matter what. BOIL THAT PASTA. Wanna use fresh? Go for it. All you have is half a bag of linguine left over from spaghetti sauce six months ago? That stuff ain't gone bad, use it up.

2. In a measuring cup, add:

3. Blend until smooth. A stick blender is the best option here, but anything (even a whisk) that gets the job done. Taste it - MAKE SURE YOU TASTE IT. If it's too spicy for you (like my first batch was), add sugar or honey or soy sauce. Too salty? Add sugar or honey or the spicy. Too dark (flavor wise, not color wise; dark flavors should remind you of chocolate)? Add more ginger. Too bright (bright flavors should remind you of vinegar)? Add more peanut butter.

4. Drain your pasta (cook it well past al dente, you don't want the leftovers to get crunchy in the fridge).

5. Toss sauce over pasta. Feel free to not use all the sauce; your goal is to coat, not swim. The amount of pasta should determine the amount of sauce you use. For half a pound of pasta, "2 parts" above should be "1/4 cup." (For those who don't keep conversions in your head, that means "1 part" is "2 tablespoons."

6. Go to town. If you made more than about a quarter pound of pasta, go to town for about three days.

Calzones

If you've never had calzones, they're like giant folded pizzas, or giant pizza pops. They're delicious and easy.

Preheat your oven to around 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

You will need:

- 1 premade pizza dough (not precooked - use gluten free if you want!)

- Cheese (use pre-grated if you want, I use my food processor to grate mine - we like mozzarella, but use what you like)

- Pizza sauce 

- Whatever toppings you want, like olives, mushrooms, pepperoni, anything your little heart can think of

What you do:

1. Roll the dough out fairly thin. Use some flour if needed to keep it from sticking. You want kind of an oval shape.

2. Spread a very light layer of pizza sauce over the whole thing, leaving about a half inch to an inch border free.

3. Add toppings. I like to do a couple layers of toppings and cheese starting with cheese at the bottom, and ending with cheese on the top for even distribution. 

4. Lightly oil a large cookie pan (I cover mine in tinfoil because easy clean-up) or use something like semolina flour if you wanna get fancy, and get that thing on there as best you can. (I suggest spatulas and being as quick as possible.

5. Cook for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on the bottom to prevent burning.

LET IT COOL FOR A MINUTE BEFORE EATING SO YOU DON'T BURN YOUR FACE OFF. 

Tuna and White Bean Salad

This recipe from Budget Bytes is very easy and yummy, and decently healthy too! If you leave out the green onions or find them pre-sliced, it could easily be made a no-chopping recipe as well.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1. Drain the tuna and beans

2. Put the tuna and beans into a mixing bowl

3. Chop the green onions

4. Add the green onions, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the mixing bowl. Mix to combine.

That's it! Very quick. This recipe makes two meal-sized servings for me, and could easily be doubled for meal prep.

It's great by itself, but also work on top of fresh greens or some toast if you're feeling it. I top it with some hot sauce to serve, but that's super optional. Enjoy!

Homemade Tortilla Chips

I learned this super easy way to make tortilla chips at home from an old roommate. It's super cheap, easy, and it tastes pretty good. All you need are: - corn tortillas - vegetable oil - salt - a microwave (although, I'm sure you could bake these in the oven) - any other toppings you'd like to include Evenly coat both sides of a tortilla with oil and add salt to taste. Place the tortilla onto a ceramic plate and microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds (my microwave is 1200 watt, cook time may change depending on your microwave). 🔥 Be careful, it's very, very hot! 🔥 Let it cool, then break into smaller pieces and enjoy!

Mushroom chicken

Pretty good copycat of Panda Express mushroom chicken, pretty cheap and tasty. Made enough for 3-4 servings with rice. Ingredients: -1lb Chicken thighs boneless and skinless, cut into small cubes (abt 3-4 thighs) -2 cups white mushrooms sliced into pieces (abt 8-10 large mushrooms) -2 cups zucchini or yellow squash, sliced and cut in half moon shapes (1 large zucchini) -1 tablespoon oil for cooking (I used vegetable oil bc it was a little hot and olive oil doesn’t do as well at high heat) -optional: 1 cup carrots, cut into matchstick size pieces. You could add other veg too -optional: 3 cloves chopped garlic (I really love garlic but there’s some in the sauce so up to you) For sauce/marinade: -2 tablespoons soy sauce -1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (rice wine vinegar would be better but I used what I had) -1 tablespoon sugar -2 tablespoons garlic powder -1 tsp black pepper -1 tsp ginger powder -1/2 tsp chili powder Step 1: Make sauce. Mix together the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic powder, ginger, pepper and chili powder. Step 2: Marinate. Put the chicken in a bowl or ziploc bag and cover with the sauce. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours—I left mine overnight and cooked it the next day but even 30 mins should be ok. Step 3: Heat a large frying pan or skillet on high heat. You want the pan to be pretty hot. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil to the pan. Step 4: Once the oil is hot, use a spoon to add your chicken to the pan. Leave most of the sauce in the bowl if you can do the sugar doesn’t burn. Spread it in a thin layer and let it cook, stirring occasionally so the pieces cook on all sides. Step 5: Once the chicken looks almost cooked, add the mushrooms. Let them cook for about a minute, stirring. Then add the rest of the veggies you are using. Step 6: Pour in the rest of the sauce left over from marinating the chicken. Add chopped garlic now if you are using it. Stir everything until it is coated lightly with the sauce. Step 7: Cover the pan to help the veggies cook, check on it occasionally but maybe 3-5 minutes. Once the squash has started to soften remove the lid and cook uncovered for a minute or two until everything is cooked. Step 8: Serve over rice and enjoy! This recipe is a little more work but it definitely felt worth it as a healthy alternative to fast food. You can cut and prep everything the night before, or buy precut produce, then throw it together the next day in 15-20minutes. I had the spices and things on hand, so I only spent ~$5 for the chicken and veg. Pretty cheap for 4 meals and it felt like a treat!

Chile Lime Chicken

Ingredients -1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast -1-2 tablespoons lime juice -1 tablespoon olive oil -1 tablespoon garlic powder -1/2 tablespoon paprika -1/2 tablespoon cumin -1/2 tablespoon chili powder -1/2 tablespoon onion powder -1 tsp salt -1 tsp black pepper Directions 1. Mix spices, olive oil, and lime juice. Coat chicken in mixture. Let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes. 2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Put the chicken in a foil lined baking sheet, and cover with foil (basically you want a packet to cover the chicken). 3. Cook for 20-30 minutes until chicken reaches 160 F. Let it rest for 5 minutes or so. That’s it! It goes really well with rice or on top of salad, or chopped up for tacos or quesadillas. If you wanted more texture you could grill it or cook it on the stove top, but I wanted to keep it simple for meal prep.

Easy Orange Chicken

I saw this as a Facebook post and tried it out today. It’s delicious and incredibly easy! Ingredients 1. Pack of raw chicken breasts 2. Jar of sweet orange jam or marmalade 3. 1 cup bbq sauce 4. 2 TBSP soy sauce 5. (Optional) regular or instant rice Instructions: 1. Cube or thinly slice the chicken breasts. 2. Sauté with the orange jam and sauces until thoroughly cooked. 3. Serve over rice if you have any. 4. Enjoy! 🤤 (If you are only cooking for yourself or even two people this can also make leftovers)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bars

You will need: 🍌 5 very ripe bananas 🥄3/4 cup brown or white sugar (i use white) 🥄1/4 cup oil OR omit if you use 3 eggs instead of 2 🥛1/4 cup milk (non-dairy works too-i use vanilla soymilk) 🥚2 eggs (or 3 if you omitted the oil) 🥄1 and 3/4 cup flour (i use all purpose but it works with wheat) 🥄1/2 teaspoon salt 🥄cinnamon and cloves to preference 🍫1-1 and 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1. Mash bananas! Add sugar, oil (if applicable), milk, and eggs. 2. Then add in flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and chocolate chips. Preheat the oven to 350F while doing this. 3. Get a large pan, spray with nonstick spray or shortening or whatever you use to make sure the food you bake doesn’t stick. Then add the batter. 4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a utensil or toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Notes: I make this without oil and baking soda, which makes these babies moist and soft. They don’t rise. If you prefer a more drier and risen texture, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. I do not know if gluten free flours work well in this recipe but nondairy milks do. Subbing applesauce for eggs may make these very moist, make sure you use oil as a binding agent. (Coconut is supposed to work great for this one). Dats it! I eat these so much, they never last long and it’s easy and cheap. Enjoy!

Mushroom Soup

This recipe makes around 6-8 servings and freezes well. You will need a large pot to cook it in and a blender. If making it dairy free I recommend using a dairy free spread rather than oil if possible as it does add to the flavour.

Ingredients

Instructions:

Easy Gravy

This recipe has saved me so many times making mashed potatoes!

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Instructions:

Pasta in a Pepper Bowl

These are super easy, hearty, and nutritious. Also, they freeze very well (both before and after baking) if you’re meal prepping.

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Tools:

Steps:

Tomato Salad

This is my go to on a low or no spoons day, and depending what dressing you use can be vegetarian or vegan friendly! Ingredients: • As many tomatoes as you want, or have the energy to chop up •Salad dressing of choice. Obviously you can add more but most days I’m not up for that haha Instructions: 1. Rinse off your tomato(es), then chop those suckers up however you’d like. 2. Drench in salad dressing. Done! It seems so simple, but usually I don’t have the energy to make a whole salad, tomatoes are good for you, and if you experiment with different dressings you get some variety there. :)