Week Three: The Art of the Home Cooked Meal

    As I mentioned in my first post, often the worst thing about being at college is that horrible longing for mom’s home cooking that seems to surface a little too often. In my freshman year, I lived in a dorm that didn’t even have a kitchen inside of it. I found myself often venturing across campus to my friends’ dormitories to bake cookies or make macaroni and cheese simply for the feeling of creating something for myself and eating it on my own time. I write this entry in hopes that you have access to a kitchen wherever it is that you may be living, whether it be on campus or not. I was lucky enough to have two experiences with home cooking this week- one meal of my own accord and one meal made by some of my friends.

    Every Tuesday night, my sorority’s executive team has a meeting. We take turns bringing snacks or desserts because we meet around dinner time and if we happen to run late we all end up starving by the time the meeting is over. This week happened to be my week to provide snacks and I decided to make it my mission to provide a quick, easy, inexpensive, and delicious home cooked meal for my sisters.

    My menu for this ideal dinner included a home made pizza, a salad, and a dessert. I began with a Pillsbury pizza crust- you can find it in the refrigerated section of the grocery store near the biscuit dough and break and bake cookies. I love using this dough because you don’t actually have to put in the work to make it from scratch, but it still feels homemade simply because you bake it yourself.  It is easy enough to use as well- just open the container, roll out the dough on to a cookie sheet, and pre-bake it for about five minutes or until the dough starts rising. I like to sprinkle a little parmesan cheese or a few herbs onto the crust before baking it as well. Once the crust was pre-baked, I took it out of the oven and added ½ cup of alfredo sauce and about half of a small package of shredded pizza cheese. Bake it for about ten more minutes and voila- you have your very own home made gourmet white pizza.

    As for the salad, they now sell convenient little caesar salad kits that include the lettuce, a package of croutons, and a little packet of dressing all in the same bag. I found this in the section of the grocery store with all of the other bagged salads. It takes all of 30 seconds to assemble this no brainer salad, and I usually put it together while the pizza is baking.

    For my grand finale I made cookie brownie bars. These little treats are always a huge hit and that’s no surprise considering they are two amazing desserts rolled into one. To top it all off they are extremely simple to make. I buy the boxed version, which calls for a stick of butter, a few tablespoons of water, and one egg. To create this dessert you spread the brownie mix into a pan and plop scoops of the cookie dough on top before baking. They are simple enough to make and definitely worth the five minute preparation time. I recommend putting them in early because they take about 40 minutes to bake.

    So next time you are looking to eat in for the evening or impress a few of your friends with a simple home made dinner this menu is a great option and very easy to put together. Not to mention the fact that you can put this entire dinner together for about the price of a normal restaurant meal that feeds one person.
    Most of my inspiration for this type of meal that is part home made and part store bought comes from my favorite Food Network show, Semi-Home Made Cooking with Sandra Lee. For a few more ideas similar to this meal, check out her website Semi Home-Made Cooking with Sandra Lee!
    Happy Eating!

Week Two: Beating the Frog Bucks System

    One of the most beneficial parts of the TCU meal plan is the Frog Bucks system. For those of you who aren't TCU students, some of TCU’s meal plans can be complimented with the option of a small amount of money set aside for you to spend at restaurants that have formed a contract with TCU. The Frog Bucks system is basically a way out of being stuck eating at the BLUU day in and day out all semester long. To the small-budgeted college student, using Frog Bucks at a restaurant feels like eating for free. The problem? Those of us who aren't lucky enough to have the prime time meal plan are stuck with the basic plan, such as the one that I have, which only provides $150 worth of Frog Bucks for the entire semester. That allows about $30 a month for outside meals. How is this meager amount supposed to last me through the entirety of five months? My goal this week has been to work out a way to beat the Frog Bucks system at some of my favorite Frog Bucks restaurants.

     Chipotle is what I would consider a brilliant institution. Their variety of fresh and organic ingredients makes it difficult for me not to eat there on a daily basis. The atmosphere of the restaurant is clean and modern, perfect for today’s college student. Throw in some of their lime salted chips or special smoky Tabasco sauce and I’ve found my happy place. At Chipotle, seven dollars will get you a burrito so huge that finishing it seems about as likely as completing a trek up and down the side of Mount Everest in the time space of one lunch break. Unfortunately, my Frog Bucks budget won’t allow me the luxury of spending that amount on a burrito on a weekly basis unless Chipotle and the BLUU are the only two places I ever want to eat. My solution? One of my vegetarian friends tipped me off about a way to beat Chipotle’s seven-dollar burrito system. She introduced me to my new go-to meal, the black bean and cheese burrito, and I’ve never looked back. Because you are only ordering two sides, this mini-burrito usually runs about $1.68, but I’ve been charged only 80 cents for it more than one time. Take the description “mini” with a grain of salt- this burrito may be mini by Chipotle standards but it is bigger than a normal sized taco bell burrito. Add a little bit of Chipotle’s special smoky Tabasco sauce and you’ve got yourself a tasty source of healthy protein for under two dollars. Now that’s what I call a smart lunch.

    Not in the mood for Mexican? SmashBurger is one of my favorite new Frog Bucks hot spots this semester. However, a regular burger with a drink and fries can run up to fourteen dollars, which is way out of my Frog Bucks budget. My solution for cheap burger bliss is to order off of the kid’s menu. For under five bucks you get a burger, fries, and a kids sized drink. The kicker is that the burger is the same size as a normal burger (take it from my personal comparing experience) and the drink can be refilled as many times as you need.

    So next time you’re looking to eat out in the TCU “for free” way, keep these helpful Frog Buck tips in mind. 
    Happy Eating!

Week One: Introduction and Central Market

I have what some may consider an unhealthy obsession with food.  I know exactly what you’re thinking and no, I am not a calorie counting fiend who measures every ounce gained or lost on a daily basis. Quite the opposite in fact, I rarely step on a scale. My relationship with food is one of love and comfort. We each have that one type of food that can lift us out of any bad mood no matter how despicable it may be.

I find it intriguing that food has the ability to inspire such strong emotions in people. I’ve discovered in college that perhaps the most common emotion inspired by the food here is nostalgia. Sorry TCU, but the Brown Lupton University Union cafeteria just doesn’t always cut it. I’ve witnessed many a student gazing morosely at a bland turkey sandwich or grease coated piece of pizza and wishing that they were at home eating mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. Aside from the often sub-par variety of dishes, getting food at the BLUU often leaves me feeling like part of a herd of thousands of lions that are all fighting over one single zebra carcass. If you are willing to brave the fifteen minute wait for a salad, chances are favorable that all of the lettuce will be gone by the time you get to the front of the line. Sadly, the frequent lack of decent food in the BLUU is what inspired me to choose this topic for my blog.

For as long as I can remember, I have been in charge of baking birthday cakes and cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family. Cooking is a source of entertainment and relaxation for me. During a stressful week I can almost always be found in the kitchen baking some kind of calorie-dense source of deliciousness. It is my goal to reveal my favorite recipes and restaurants to help the average college student eat healthy and delicious food without breaking the bank.

Just this evening I went on an eating adventure with my friends to Central Market. Although its reputation calls to mind all of its expensive specialty grocery items, it is a little known fact that purchasing a single meal at Central Market is not only delicious but also inexpensive if you know what to look for.          

Thanks to Central Market, tonight I enjoyed a plate of sushi and a vegetarian egg roll for ten dollars. Not too shabby for a celebration dinner after the first week of classes. The options are limitless- they have a prepared food section with everything from a sandwich and salad bar to crab cakes and salmon. They also offer a variety of fresh soups, which is what makes it one of my favorite places to grab lunch. A small bowl of soup goes for about $3.00. I guess you can call me an unofficial “foodie,” which is the term that Central Market has coined for their employees who love all things food and want to share their knowledge with others. Their website (centralmarket.com) talks a lot more about what they have to offer. So next time you are looking for a place with some variety where you can sit down and eat a good hot meal, Central Market is a great option, especially if you are looking for a break from the collegiate cafeteria routine.

Happy eating!