Quick lunch: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Today I had a delicious quick lunch at home in between classes. Just wanted to post a quick photo of my meal. Remember that when cooking you don't always have to re-invent the wheel. A simple grilled cheese and tomato soup makes for a cheap, yummy lunch on any given day.

Creamy Ranch Pork Chops over Garlic Roasted Mashed Potatoes w/ Broccoli

Last night I made a crock pot meal. I had pork chops in the freezer that I had purchased when they were on sale a few weeks ago. I love this meal because it is a great example how you can take the basics in your pantry and freezer to make a great meal.

Ingredients:
- Thin cut boneless pork chops
- 2 cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken
- 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing
- Frozen broccoli (brand does not matter)
- 1 packet Idahoan Garlic Roasted Mashed Potatoes
- Salt and pepper

Directions:
In crock pot put in two cans of Cream of Chicken soup. Empty half of the dressing packet and mix in. Season your pork chops with the rest of the ranch packet, salt, and pepper. Put pork chops in crock pot, turn on high for 4 hours.

When the chops are cooked through and you're ready to eat make mashed potatoes (follow directions on back; takes literally 5 minutes) and cook your frozen broccoli packet.

BAM! You have yourself a delicious, super easy, cheap meal.

I love to use the crock pot because I can throw in all my ingredients and go to class, do homework, work out, and come back to a finished meal. Also, I am still getting used to having a cooking blog so I have made a few meals in between my posts that I have just completely forgotten to take pictures of. I will remake those recipes soon and remember to post pictures and directions. Trust me that most of the meals I make do not involve pork and mashed potatoes. Purely coincidental.

Mesquite Barbecue Pork-Loin

Last night I made a Mesquite Barbecue pork-loin with Four Cheese mashed potatoes with a side of green beans. I love pork-loins because they are already seasoned perfectly and all you have to do is simply stick it in the oven. Pork-loins at Publix are usually $7.99 but they are a great purchase because they can feed a lot of people or make for a lot of leftovers. Plus it is such a lean piece of meat and it's a nice switch up from the regular chicken dishes I make.

Mashed potatoes are CHEAP and all you do is boil your water, throw in the potatoes, and boom their done. I buy the smaller cans of green beans because I am usually the only one who eats them.

This meal is so easy, feeds about 4 comfortably, and takes very little effort on your part. Enjoy!

Enchiladas

Tuesday night I made an Old El Paso Enchilada kit. Before I go any further I have to state that this kit only feeds two people comfortably. Do not make this if you need to feed more than two people.

So pretty much follow the directions on the back of the box except for a few minor touches that I added.

When cooking the chicken season it with salt, pepper, and McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning. Trust me your chicken will taste much much better with these seasonings.

After you've put the enchiladas together take a little bit of buffalo wing sauce and drizzle it on the top. This was a personal suggestion from my roommate who loves my buffalo chicken enchiladas that I make. Just a drizzle of the sauce will add some extremely good flavor.

Put them in the oven and within 15 minutes you've got a delicious, rather cheap, enchilada fiesta!

The Basics

Today's post is the first of many about the basics that every cook should have in their kitchen. Today we will focus on the pantry. When people come over and look in my pantry they are always amazed how much food we have. Really what they're seeing are the basics that I keep stocked in my pantry so I don't have to run out to the grocery store every time I go to make a new recipe. So many of the recipes I will share with you all rely on the same fundamental ingredients. The following is a list of some the most important things to keep stocked in your pantry:

1. Campbell's Condensed Soups such as Cream of Chicken, Cream of Mushroom, Tomato, Cream of Celery, etc.
2. Pasta. Any kind you please.
3. Rice
4. Instant Mashed Potatoes
5. Tomato Sauce
6. Chicken Broth
7. Canned Veggies
8. Dinner Kits such as Old El Paso Taco or Enchilada kits
9. Regular soups
10. Salsa

All of these are non-perishable items meaning they will not go bad in a short amount of time. I am stating the obvious because you save money by constantly keeping your pantry stocked with these. Do NOT EVER buy them for full price. I am a Publix shop-a-holic and I never leave there empty handed without purchasing BOGO pastas, tomato sauce, chicken broth, condensed soups, dinner kits, etc. Also, these are all products that are made by companies who put a ton of coupons. Now stocking your pantry will not happen over night. You will have to wait for those sales and give yourself time to getting used to remembering to put these on your grocery list.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Homemade soups can be very intimidating sometimes and I recommend this recipe for a Sunday night or cold-rainy day when you have a little bit more time to cook. It is an extremely simple recipe that you should already have a lot of the ingredients for in your pantry. Not to mention it is absolutely delicious!

My friend Lyssa and I had a girls night in on Saturday where we made soup and watched movies. This meal was cheap, easy, and nutritious!

She got the idea from this website:
http://myblessedlife.net/2010/03/broccoli-cheddar-soup-panera-style.html

Here is the recipe:

• 2 T. Butter, melted
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 4 c. half and half
• 4 c. chicken broth
• 1 lb. fresh broccoli
• 2 cups, julienned carrots
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Saute onion in butter.  Set aside.   Whisk butter and flour over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.  Stir constantly and slowly add half and half.  Add chicken stock, still whisking.

Simmer 20 minutes.

Add broccoli, carrots and onion.  Cook over low heat until veggies are tender – about 20-25 minutes.  Add salt and pepper.  The soup will have thickened by now.

Cook over low heat.  Add cheese.  Stir until well blended.  Add nutmeg right before serving.

Makes 8-10 servings.

***I recommend substituting the fresh broccoli with a bag of frozen broccoli because it is quicker to cook, it is already chopped, and you won't need the whole bag so it leaves you with leftover frozen broccoli to throw back in the freezer to have for another night. Also add as many carrots and other vegetables that you want. The base is the same for whatever you want to make.****

This makes so much that you will have leftovers for days! 

The beginning

As my very first blog post I wanted to tell everyone why I decided to make this blog. I am currently a second year student at The University of Georgia so this past year I had to make the big transition to finally living on my own. No freshman dorm or dining hall anymore. Just me, myself, and I to make sure the rent gets paid, the dishes get washed, and there's milk in the fridge. So suddenly I found myself on a college budget, living a busy schedule, and having to find a way to make sure I got fed.

Luckily, I come from a long line of cooking women in my family. My grandmother, Connie Crawford, is the best cook I have ever met. She taught my mom who then taught me. As a baby of the great depression era my grandmother grew up in a low income household. She learned how to make amazing dishes from scratch and how to get creative with what you did have in the pantry. I love when I get to spend time with her because I get to witness ways you can make nothing into something extraordinary.

As for me, my cooking career began at an earlier age than most. My parents work 9-5 jobs and I would watch my mom come home exhausted at 6:30 then have to put dinner together for all of us. I started helping my mom make dinner by making Hamburger Helpers and other easy to do meals. Once I learned the basics I found myself putting together dishes from pure creativity. I always felt that it was my responsibility to come home with good grades, respect my parents, and help out around the house. Lucky for me I enjoyed cooking and was proud that I could help my parents.

During the summer of 2011 I took classes and lived in Athens. I had a lot of 'free time' on my hands since I was only taking two classes. My roommate and boyfriend both do not cook and after eating out multiple nights in a row I realized that it was time for me to start cooking again. I began exploring different websites like Pinterest for recipe ideas which would then lead me to some amazing cooking blogs. I found blogs that matched my dilemma: how do I make nutritious, cheap, fast, and easy meals? Taking what I learned from my grandmother and mom, and combining that with the recipe ideas I began making some pretty darn good meals. I became hooked so this blog is meant for others to follow my cooking creations. Not only will I share what recipes I make but I will also give advice to other college students out there who are facing the same dilemma. And this is not just for college students it is for young couples on low budgets, single men who don't have a lady to cook for them, and for those busy mom's on the go who need help.

So enjoy the adventure and share your ideas with me!

Happy Cooking,
Caley

My grandmother with some of her granddaughters at our traditional tea party.