Cooking on a Budget: Recipes for Two

When I lived alone a typical dinner might have been: 

• leftover pizza
• microwave popcorn
• Ramen noodles
• cereal 

Living with someone makes me realize that both he and I deserve a better effort. Although, don't knock cereal for dinner. It's quick with easy cleanup. 

I find myself making the same things: spaghetti, tacos, and ordering Chinese takeout. I ask people for dinner ideas all the time and know there is no shortage of recipes online to choose from, but it all seems like so much work!

For those who are with me and honestly don't have much time or money to spend on cooking, I have a few meal ideas to share with you that are perfect for two or for one plus leftovers.

Meal #1: 

Salmon 
rice pilaf
asparagus

Marinate the salmon in teriyaki sauce or cover in pesto before baking. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and cook for 20 minutes. Use foil on your baking sheet so it's easier to clean up. 

You can buy salmon in packs of two at Fresh and Easy for fairly inexpensive. On one side of the baking sheet, put your marinated salmon. On the other side, add asparagus and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put in the oven to bake away.

Then, get yourself a microwaveable bag of rice pilaf. In just 90 seconds, you have delicious rice pilaf and you didn't have to dirty a single dish. For someone who doesn't have a dishwasher, this means a lot.

When you put this on a plate, it looks like you put in true effort, when really the whole thing takes about 20 minutes and uses one baking sheet.

My plating skills could use some work.

Meal #2: 

Roast

potatoes

baby carrots

Roast definitely makes you feel like a big deal when really you put everything in a pot and let it simmer forever. Raise your hand if you received a crockpot for your high school graduation. Raise your hand if you have not used said crockpot since graduation. 

I fall into that category only using my crockpot to make queso dip a.k.a. Velveeta cheese + Rotel. I could really go for some of that right now.

I pulled out the ol' crockpot in my eager anticipation for fall and decided to cook a roast. Make sure to season that sucker before dropping it in or it will be bland. I used: salt, pepper, garlic powder, and seasoning salt. Rub it in to the meat and place in crockpot. Add in veggies of your choosing. I have always had roast with potatoes and carrots, so that's what I added, plus some chopped up onions.

At this point you can cover with cream of mushroom soup, beef broth, or just use water like I did because I forgot to buy the first two mentioned items. Turn your crockpot to high for about 5 hours or so. Oh, I also squeezed in some BBQ sauce because I felt like that was the right thing to do.

After cooking, use some of the broth to make gravy. Start by mixing about a cup of the broth with flour and then add to a pan on the stove. Stir in more broth and flour as needed for thickness. Taste and season.

There is roast underneath that swimming pool of vegetables.

Meal #3: 

Stir fry

When I fear like something is about to go bad, I put it in the freezer to hopefully use at a later date. This actually worked to my advantage for once as I remembered I had chopped up, cooked chicken in the freezer. 

I added vegetable oil to a pan and added in cut up potatoes. I like using the Yukon gold or fingerling because the skin is better to eat. Once these became slightly tender, I added in my chicken, cut up zucchini, cut up leftover asparagus, and rice. I added in salt, pepper, soy sauce, and sriracha. I didn't take a picture because I was too hungry since I had just finished taking an Insanity class. But it was delicious and took practically no time at all. 

These are all recipes if you don't have a lot of time or don't want to take a lot of time. Or, if you are tired of getting take out. Or, if you are on a food budget. I am all three. But please, please share with me your easy recipes. 

50/50 Challenge Update: Reading Frenzy

shared from Read It Forward's Facebook page

I read two books this weekend. Actually, I finished one book, then started and finished two more. Toot, toot, beep, beep - you read that right. While I would love to do a book report on every book I read (really, I wouldn't), I am dedicated just not that dedicated. So, here is are my short sum-ups for the last 7 books I've read. 

If you've read any of these and want to share your reviews, thoughts, and/or tweets with me, I love hearing from other reading enthusiasts. Book nerds unite!

24. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Ms. Chopin, must you complain so much? Feminism? Me thinks not.

25. The One & Only by Emily Giffin
Giffin-style with made-for-tv movie written all over it.

26. We Were Liars by e. Lockhart
A bit predictable, but not all disappointing.

27. Orange Is the New Black by Piper Lerman
Was indifferent about reading it. Ended up enjoying it. No, haven't seen the show yet. Nor do I have plans to.

28. Night Film by Marisha Pessl
One of the better ones I read in this stretch of books. Love the mystery and haunted feel of the novel because I am fascinated by topics in that category. I wrote a review on Goodreads for this one.

29. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire.
Do you like the song: "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem feat. Rihanna? Then, you'll love this book. Makes you feel good about that "bad boy" that got away.

30. Delicious by Ruth Reichl
I love reading about food. This is fiction but with plenty of food discussed. Thought it was great.

I've only watched four new movies since my last update because let's be honest, this summer has sucked in terms of new movies. Blockbusters? Please. Millions of dollars at the box office still does not a good movie make. 

30. The Expendables 3
Whenever the first one came out I thought it was a parody. I'm still not convinced this is not the case. Lots of action. Crappy plot. And, those men are getting OLD.

31. Love Is Strange
Sweetly simple but dealing with a lot of complex emotions and topics. 

32. TMNT
No, I never saw the original. I was a kid who hardly watched tv and played outside or read. Big surprise there. Those turtles are kinda creepy, yeah? 

33. Guardians of the Galaxy
Had hoped for better. Love Vin Diesel's dialogue. Ha! Watched it at the drive-in with TMNT which was cool. Fun night out. 

I'm happy that I am whittling away at my library and book club list, and some of my must-see movies are coming out soon. Until my next update, which I know you await with bated breath, happy reading and watching!

L'Oreal Hair Makeover: Sweet and Simple

the tools

It's always fun to change your look and color your hair. But, it's even better when you can get a friend to help. After receiving the new L'Oreal Superior Preference Mousse Absolue in Light Auburn Brown, I knew just the gal who would want to try it out: my friend, Kim!

Kim has light to medium brown hair and I thought this color would be perfect for a richer hue just in time for fall. 

the before

The mousse is so much better than the hair dye that you mix in the bottle and usually drips onto your clothes, the floor, and everywhere else. The mousse bottle already comes pre-mixed and you just apply in sections of the hair. There is hardly any dripping during the process and there's not nearly the heavy scent of regular at-home color.

the after

The color was perfect for her, the process easy. If you're thinking of switching it up, for only fifteen bucks, this product is a good choice.