What's to come, you might ask?

Since summer officially took off, Sarah and I got lazy. But we are returning full force this week with the intense wish to not eat out so often. Being a college student, this will be hard to accomplish.

Here are a few recipes that we will be attempting in the near future, now that we have allied ourselves with a Crock Pot:

Shredded Beef Tacos / Enchiladas
Homemade (from scratch) Lasagne
Classic Steaks
Beef Stew
Parmesan-Dijon Chicken
Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Apples


Tirimisu
Apple Crisp

and so much more! We are going to do a lot of experiments with potatoes.

If you have any suggestions, please, let us know! Expert advice is welcome.

Until the next delicious post!


Hilary "Top Chef" Castles

Crispy Red Rice

This recipe is one of our own, deciding that white rice with salsa just doesn't tantalize the taste buds...

Yields: 6 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Supplies:

1 ricecooker or 1 pot big enough to make rice
1 pan for frying rice

Ingredients (will vary per rice cooker):

2 C. uncooked white rice (yields 4 C. cooked rice)
2 can stewed, diced tomatoes
1 tsp. paprika
2 Tbs. cayenne pepper
vegetable oil for frying
Mexican cheese
can add: chile peppers, green peppers, jalapeno peppers to taste

Prepare rice according to package directions. After rice is mostly cooked (most of the water absorbed), add juice from the 2 cans of tomatoes, witholding the solid tomato for later. Add spices. Ready pan with vegetable oil on stove at medium heat, thinly coating pan (1/4 in. deep). When rice is finished cooking, remove from rice cooker or pot and transfer to frying pan. Add remaining stewed tomatoes and extra peppers to taste. Turn up heat on burner to medium high and fry rice until crispy, golden brown, adding salt and pepper and more spice to preferred taste. Once browned to perfection, top with Mexican cheese, serve and enjoy.

Hilary says: The slight crunch and tomato flavor gives in an unusual texture, while still being a rice dish and having all the qualities that Spanish rice has. I liked the tomatoes, I thought it could have been more spicy. I would have enjoyed chili peppers, bell peppers and/or more chunky supplements but didn't have any of those on hand. Overall this dish needs improvement but when made to the chef's taste, could be award-winning.

Sarah says: It's got some heat that stays with you. I, too, would have enjoyed some chunky peppers added but sometimes you just have to work with you have. I think this rice would be great for burritos!

-Overall rating: ★★★★☆
-Ease of preparation: ★★★★☆
-Taste: ★★★★☆
-Bang for the buck: ★★★★★
-Ease of cleanup: ★★★★☆

Estimated cost:

$2.00 canned, stewed tomatoes
$1.50 peppers
$-.-- rice (on hand)
$-.-- paprika (on hand)
$-.-- vegetable oil (on hand)
$-.-- sour cream (on hand)
$1.00 Mexican cheese
_______________________________

about $1.00 per serving depending upon the items you have in your pantry

Pollo Loco

This recipe comes from Hilary's friend, Chrissy, who made this recipe for Hilary's farewell party a few weeks ago. Chrissy got the recipe from a family she babysits for and we modified it a bit to make it our own.

Yields: 4 servings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Supplies:

2 bowls
1 cookiesheet
1 can cooking spray

Ingredients:

12 chicken tenders (about 2 lbs. of chicken -- drumsticks work well, too)
1 1/2 C. plain, fine bread crumbs
2 Tbs. paprika (be generous)
1 Tbs. Tony's (or another Creole seasoning)
1 pinch salt-free Cajun seasoning
1/2 C. vegetable oil

Note: After taste-testing, we think you should use some more spice. Season to your tastes and even use some hot seasonings if you want to, too. We recommend 40% spices and 60% bread crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray cookie sheet generously with cooking spray. Pour vegetable oil into a small bowl. Mix bread crumbs and spices in a separate bowl. Create an assembly line for less mess: chicken -- oil -- spices -- cookie sheet. Envelop each chicken tender in oil, one by one. Let excess oil drip off as you dip chicken in bread crumb mixture.* Carefully lay covered chicken tender on cookie sheet. Continue process until each chicken piece has been dipped in oil and breadcrumbs and then placed on cookie sheet. Spray the top of the chicken with cooking spray. Bake in oven for at least 30 minutes. Check to see if chicken is crisping. Bake for another 10 minutes and if necessary broil for the last 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool and enjoy! Use sauces to your taste (barbecue, honey mustard, ranch, etc.)

*Do not make this too breadcrumby.

Hilary says: Right away, I thought it was too breadcrumby and not spicy enough for my taste. When Chrissy prepared this recipe with drumsticks instead of tenders, it was less breadcrumby. However, this recipe, using chicken tenders, has a great contrast between the crispy exterior and the juicy, tender interior, making it quite delicious.

Sarah says: I insisted upon using boneless chicken because I hate bones. I can admit that perhaps this recipe is better suited for chicken with bone-in. I think this recipe would be an excellent starting point for Chicken Parmesan. Slather it in marinara sauce and top with cheese and you'd have a winner.

-Overall rating: ★★★½☆
-Ease of preparation: ★★★★☆
-Taste: ★★★★☆
-Bang for the buck: ★★★★★
-Ease of cleanup: ★★★★★

Estimated cost:

$3.50 chicken
$1.00 breadcrumbs
$-.-- paprika (on hand)
$-.-- Tony's Creole seasoning (on hand)
$-.-- Cajun seasoning (on hand)
$-.-- vegetable oil (on hand)
$-.-- cooking spray (on hand)
_______________________________

about $1.25 per serving depending upon the items you have in your pantry

Introduction to College Cookin'

We can cook. Other people have food blogs. Why don't we? We love making new recipes. We both adore blogging. It's just natural. We'll make whatever strikes our fancy... with a few limitations:

-The recipe has to call for somewhat common ingredients!
-The recipe must require only kitchen appliances we possess (That means no food processor or slow cooker. We are currently accepting donations, however)
-The recipe can't cost a bundle to make!

Here's what you can expect:

-The source of the recipe (website, family, magazine... wherever)!
-The recipe itself (unless top secret)!
-The review from each of us!
-The photo that makes the reader (that's you) want to eat it!
-The rundown of total cost (if we can do the math)!

We'll review recipes as follows:

-Overall rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
-Ease of preparation: ☆☆☆☆☆
-Taste: ☆☆☆☆☆
-Bang for the buck: ☆☆☆☆☆
-Ease of cleanup: ☆☆☆☆☆

We love comments. Tell us if you think or recipe sounds good (or horrible). If you decide to make the recipe, too, please tell us how it turned out!