Bean and Pepper Burrito

Mexican-style food seems to be some of the least expensive to put together, but it can also be quite healthy. It’s important to choose the right kind of beans: refried aren’t really healthy. Here, I’m using the same can of pinto beans I used last week, which had the ingredients of beans, water, and salt. I’m also using a 100% whole grain tortilla, as indicated by the little yellow stamp on the package. A yellow bell pepper kicks up the flavor.

You will need:

• a knife to cut up bell pepper
• a microwavable plate or paper towel
• one small yellow bell pepper
• a can of pinto beans (or you can soak some dried pinto beans overnight if you’re hard core)
• a handful of shredded cheese (Mexican blend feels “authentic”, but you can use whatever you have around: cheddar, mozzarella, etc. Vegans may want to use cheese substitute, as otherwise the burrito may fall apart.)
• one whole grain tortilla

1. Cut the bell pepper in half around the stem, not through the middle. One of the halves will now have the stem along with a bunch of seeds inside. Cut around the rest of the stem, and most of the seeds should come out along with it; discard stem and seeds. Chop the smaller half of the pepper into thin strips or chunks for whatever texture you like best in your burrito. Either save the other half of the bell pepper for another dish, or eat it on the side.
2. Lay tortilla open on plate or paper towel. Take half of the handful of cheese and sprinkle on half of the tortilla.
3. Layer on the pepper pieces and enough pinto beans to cover half the tortilla. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
4. Fold the tortilla in half. (I am aware this isn’t true burrito format, but whenever I try to roll it up like a burrito everything falls out for some reason. Try it if you want.) Put it in the microwave for 45-60 seconds.
5. Serve with the extra bell pepper and green apple on the side if desired. Pick up and eat!

A simple meal

When the 20-something moves out of her parent’s house or college dorm and into her first apartment where food is no longer automatically available, it can be tempting to gravitate toward prepackaged meals. Those can get expensive, though. Sometimes, simple works.

You will need:

• a microwavable plate and bowl, along with either a fork or spoon
• a can of pinto beans (I got a can that only had beans, water and salt. You don’t need any other ingredients in the can.)
• some prewashed spinach leaves (I suppose it would be cheaper to buy spinach and other salad greens unwashed, but the result is that I am too lazy to wash and dry them and they go bad, thus defeating the purpose of having bought them in the first place.)
• a head of broccoli
• red wine vinegar
• some Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Put your prewashed spinach in the bowl. Wash and dry your broccoli and put that in the bowl too. Dress with red wine vinegar to taste.
2. Open the can and pour a bit of the water down the sink, just so you won’t have a bunch of water on the plate. Get some of your beans out of your can and onto a microwavable plate. (Most plastic plates and all metal plates should never go in the microwave, or else melting and explosions respectively.) You can get them out of the can using a fork or spoon. You probably won’t use the whole can, so you can put the rest in the fridge for later.
3. Microwave the beans for 30-60 seconds, depending on strength of microwave.
4. Sprinkle both beans and salad with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
5. Pick up fork and eat super cheap meal!

Hummus Veggie Sandwich

This post has been a long time coming. First I was sick for a while and then I moved across state lines (several of them), so please forgive my absence. I should be back to updating once a week now.

These were the last pictures I took before I moved. Sometimes you are busy and you need something on-the-go. A salad can take too much effort to eat. Why not slap it between slices of delicious, whole grain bread?

This time I tried to take a picture of each step, because if you layer a sandwich incorrectly, it can fall apart and thus defeat the purpose of a neat, handheld meal.

You will need:

• a plate, or something else to make the sandwich on, and a knife to spread hummus
• 2 slices whole grain bread. (Don’t fall for breads that say they are multi-grain or whole wheat without baring the Whole Grain Stamp. Many breads that try to appear healthy actually contain significant amount of white refined flour. )
• hummus, enough to spread on bread slices. (I used plain hummus, but you could jazz it up with a flavored hummus like extra garlic or roasted red pepper.)
• handful of spinach leaves
• 4 thin cucumber slices (cut them as thinly as possibly with a knife or star peeler)
• about 1 tbsp crumbled feta cheese (not packed down. A little goes a long way with feta. If you’re vegan you can leave it out.)
• sliced, cooked bell peppers to taste (bell peppers have strong flavor, but I love them. Raw would also work if you want more crunch and/or are too lazy to cook the peppers.)

If you need to cook your bell peppers, you will need a pan and a little bit of oil to sauté them in. Add oil to pan just to coat, turn up the heat to medium, and add the peppers. They should wilt a little bit. There is also the literal roasting method where you put them on a baking sheet and through them in the oven. Ideas for that here.

1. Spread hummus on both sides of the bread so ingredients will stick inside.



2. If spinach leaves are not prewashed, wash and dry. Add spinach to one side of the bread.



3. Add cucumber slices, one in each bread quadrant.



4. Sprinkle feta cheese on other side of bread.



5. Add bell peppers.



6. Take bell pepper bread slice and flip over quickly onto the other slice. You now have a delicious sandwich to eat!

Egg Drop Soup

Even though I have a bit of a cold, I would not want to disappoint all eleven of my fans, so I’m posting today regardless! I decided to make soup for myself, because you have to be able to take care of yourself when you are sick and your mommy is not around (especially if you happen to be single at some point in your life).

I made this egg drop soup. It was okay. I did accidentally have a big chunk of egg in there instead of uniform nice swirls, and I definitely did not use enough bouillon because it was kind of bland. (It might also have tasted bland due to nose stuffiness, but I kind of doubt it.) However, practice makes perfect. Cooking is harder when you don’t do it.

Things you will need:

• a small pot and stove
• 2 cups of water
• 2 tsp Better than Bouillon chicken base (It said 1 tsp to every 8 oz/1 cup of water. I have decided this is a lie, as it turned out really bland. I would likely use a full tablespoon (equivalent to 3 tsp) next time). If you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian, you can use a vegetarian base. 2 bouillon cubes would also probably work, or chicken broth/stock if you happen to have some laying around.
• 1 egg
• 1 small bowl in which to scramble said egg
• 1 fork with which to scramble said egg
• 1 bowl and 1 spoon to eat with
• 1 ladle to serve with (optional)

1. Put the two cups of water in the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. (This means turn up the heat all the way. When it starts really bubbling, turn the heat down to more like 1/3 to maintain the boil and prevent it from boiling over.)
2. Once it is boiling, add your chicken base and let it dissolve. If you want, you can use the spoon you are going to eat with to eye-ball the 1 tablespoon measurement. Otherwise, break out with the measuring spoons.
3. Meanwhile, crack your egg on the small bowl and discard shell. Scramble the egg with the fork.
4. Slowly pour the scrambled egg into the boiling chicken broth, stirring as you go. The egg will cook and make swirls.
5. Once all the egg looks cooked, serve by ladling into a bowl, or pour directly from the pot into a bowl. (Do not use the same bowl you scrambled the egg in unless you want salmonella.) Pick up spoon and eat!
6. Put leftovers in the fridge, because you are sick and exhausted and now you have maybe two extra meals because I had you make a lot of soup. Yay!

Red, White & Blue Fireworks Salad

Memorial Day is tomorrow, and July 4 is just around the corner. Some say to be patriotic, you have to have the classic American barbecue food: hamburgers, loaded baked potatoes, hot dogs, corn on the cob, etc. But other than corn (which really acts more like a grain), where are the vegetables? This salad took me about 30 minutes to prepare because I am slow at knife skills, but it will probably go much faster once I improve my technique. You could probably expand this recipe for multiple eaters without much additional time. Red bell peppers add tang, white cucumber (and cheese if you’re not vegan) cool it down, and blue berries sweeten the deal. Finally, cayenne pepper in the dressing make fireworks go off in your mouth.

Things you will need:

• A fairly big bowl and a fork
• Salad greens to fill up your bowl (I used spinach, but you can also use iceberg or romaine for pickier palates)
• Red bell pepper (or 3 baby sweet peppers)
• 1/2 cup red canned beans [optional] (I used black beans, but kidney beans would work the same or better)
• White shredded cheese [optional] (Mozzarella, Jack, or Provolone for a mild taste; Parmesan or Asiago for more of a bite)
• About 1/3 cucumber
• Handful of blackberries (or blueberries)
• Red wine vinegar
• Sprinkle of cayenne pepper, to taste

1. Wash and dry your salad greens if they are not prewashed. Put them in your bowl.
2. Wash and dry the sweet red pepper. Cut the top off and discard the seeds and whitish flesh. Slice into strips and throw on salad.
3. Wash and dry the cucumber. Slice it into circles. If you want to get fancy, you can cut off the outside green flesh so it’s truly white, but I like to leave it on for the extra nutrients and fiber. Place the cucumber circles on the salad.
4. Wash and dry your berries. If you use blueberries, just throw them in. If you use blackberries and they are large, cut them in half so they distribute more evenly. Put in salad.
5. Drain the can of beans if you want the extra protein. Toss about 1/2 cup into the salad, and save the rest for another salad or burrito or something.
6. Sprinkle the white shredded cheese on top of the salad.
7. Shake on the red wine vinegar to taste. Sprinkle cayenne. (You can also mix these two ahead of time to infuse the spiciness throughout the vinegar.)
8. Pick up fork and eat!

Simple Italian Salad

I like salads with Italian dressing. They used to consist of romaine lettuce, some carrots, maybe some croutons and/or red cabbage, and lots of Italian dressing. For my first salad I wanted to go with the Italian herb profile I liked, but with more nutrition. I also made my own dressing because I have recently developed an allergy to onions. On the plus side, my dressing tasted better, and I was able to leave out the olive oil. (I have never been a huge fan of oily texture; you can add a teaspoon of olive oil if you want, but if you’re calorie-conscious you don’t need it.)

This, along with a whole Granny Smith apple, was my lunch. Eating a nice big salad is an excellent way to fuel up, because there is a lot of nutrients per calorie!

Things you will need:

• A fairly big bowl and a fork.
• A cutting board and a decent small knife (preferably with a non-serrated edge)
• Pre-washed mixed greens, enough to fill up your bowl (if you can’t get pre-washed, rinse the leaves in a colander or your hands and then dry them with a towel)
• About 1/3 cucumber
• 2 radishes
• Some shredded carrots (if you want to be hard core, you can peel your own carrot)
• 1/3 cup canned cannellini beans (any bean will work; they all have protein!)
• 2 or 3 olives (why consume olive oil when you can have the whole olive?)
• About a tablespoon of red wine vinegar (add more to taste if necessary)
• Italian mixed seasoning to taste (If you don’t have a mix: marjoram, thyme, and rosemary are the main ingredients. You can use one or more of them and it will be almost as good. If you have none of them, go out and buy a dang spice. You’ll need it.)

1. Put your washed mixed greens in your bowl. Throw your shredded carrots on top.
2. Wash your cucumber, then use the cutting board and knife to cut it into thick circles. Then cut the circles into quarters and put them in the salad. (Some folks prefer their cucumbers in thin circles, which is fine too. It’s just harder knife-work.)
3. Wash your radishes, then chop them into thin circles. Lay the circles flat and chop them into matchsticks. Sprinkle on salad.
4. Take your olives. Half or quarter them with the knife, and then matchstick them. Sprinkle on salad.
5. After draining your cannellini beans, dump them on the salad.
6. Pour vinegar evenly on salad. Sprinkle on seasoning. (It is also possible to put the vinegar and seasoning into a small container overnight to infuse it.)
7. Pick up fork and eat!