Lunch for about $1.50

Because I often struggle to think of easy, easy lunches which are cost effective (WHICH ARE NOT SANDWICHES), I thought I would note one lunch option which I quite enjoyed recently. Cost effective, delicious, on the go, and yummy! I'll break it down for you:

Step 1: Bake a potato--sweet or regular, the night before you need it for lunch. (Or cook one extra at dinner, or the morning of if you're daring).

Step 2: Put a slit through the potato now so that you don't need a knife at lunch time. Pack baked potato in cute, handy-dandy dish.

Step 3: At lunch time, stop at local Wendy's and buy a small chili. Ask for sour cream on the side if you wish.

Step 4: Smother baked potato with chili and sour cream.

Step 5: Eat and smile. Eat and smile.

You can always make the chili at home if you want, but sometimes you just can't. You know?

Image Courtesy of http://www.jennyslunchline.com/rcadmin/cartpics/377-1.jpg

Sauteed Potato Hash-Browns

Hash-Browns

I luuuv hash-browns.

Hash-browns with eggs and ketchup.

Hash-browns at the diner with lunch and fresh fruit.

Hash-browns for dinner.

Hash-browns the morning after meat and potatoes.

Hash-browns with maple syrup. Seriously, but just a dab.

Ingredients:

chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, herbs de Provence, and any other savory seasoning you like, (No over kill, please.) butter, and olive oil.

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes until just underdone and let sit in the fridge to cool and firm up. This is what makes day old cooked potatoes the perfect leftover.

2. Melt a dab of butter and a Tbsp of oil in the frying pan, and then gently place potatoes into the pan. (Careful, don't splatter!)

3. Add seasonings and toss the potatoes in the pan until fully coated. Cook until brown, hot and there are some nice pan marks. (Grill marks, but from a pan.)

Apple Gingerbread Sweet Potatoes

This recipe brings warmth to any meal. I bring it forth as a nomination for the category of "yummy creative side dish made in under 30 minutes", in the food Oscars. Do they have those? They should.

The combination of smooth and creamy sweet potatoes, gingerbread tea which can be cooked directly into the potato, honey, tart and crunchy apples, topped with nuts, dried fruit, and sugar, makes for a satisfying side dish.

I might add that I made these potatoes right after class and in-between homework sessions, so they are pretty easy if you have the right ingredients in your pantry. I literally kept throwing matching flavors into this dish because sweet potatoes are a very versatile vegetable. Sweet, but not too much, so you can add a seasonal flare to them like I did here. Crumbled up gingerbread cookies on top would be a nice addition as well.

You can use any type of gingerbread or cinnamon tea to infuse the potatoes that you can find. I bought mine at the grocery store and have had it sitting around for 2 years, and thought, It's about time to put this tea to some use! So I did. When the water with the potatoes in it comes to a boil, I let one of these seasonal tea bags and 3 black peppercorns steep for about 2 minutes, and the potatoes took on a great flavor!

You can use this same trick when making potato salad. Put a few garlic cloves in the water while the potatoes cook, and they will taste like garlic!

Combine some fresh apples into the cooked and mashed potatoes, cinnamon, and honey or brown sugar.

I didn't cook mine for too long because I didn't want the nuts to potentially burn, but you could leave yours in longer if you left the nuts off until a bit later into the cooking process. Maybe your sugar will caramelize more than mine did.

Ingredients:

(For one portion)

1 medium size sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1'' pieces

1 gingerbread tea bag (or chai/cinnamon/etc.)

3 black peppercorns

1/2 medium size apple, chopped (I used an Empire apple)

1 tsp. butter (optional)

1 tsp. honey or brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

a few pinches of large crystal sugar (like turbanado)

a handful of mixed nuts/dried fruit

Directions:

1. Cook peeled and cut potatoes into a pot full of cold water on high. When water comes to a boil, place tea bag and peppercorns into the pot (steep for 2 minutes) and allow the potatoes to cook another 8 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender enough to be be cut with a fork. Drain.

2. Mash potatoes, cinnamon, honey, and butter in a bowl with a fork until smooth. Stir chopped apples in gently.

3. Spoon mixture into a oven safe dish, and top with mixed nuts/fruit and sugar of choice.

4. Cook on broil for approx. 5 minutes. (You can cook it longer if you want the sugar to melt further, but watch so that it doesn't burn.)

Barbequed Potato and Onion Parcels

Crisis has been averted; tonight could have been a boring dinner! I came this close to making regular boiled potatoes, but thankfully Leah was present to save the day. (My regular boiled potatoes apparently don't make the cut anymore.)

Well excuse me! Apparently I missed the memo when they went out of style.

Leah insisted that these potatoes were the way to go, and you know what? She was absolutely right.

I'm just jokin' a bit, I didn't really need any convincing on this one. I just wasn't creative enough at the time to think of it.

Why not make exciting, flavorful potatoes if you can?

Students, if you don't have an accessible barbecue you can still make this side dish in the oven. My oven saved my bacon this year because I made almost everything in it. And it was so nice to just pop food into it and walk away. Mmmm...lazy cooking. You can also try this out in the oven during the winter. (Anywhere but the microwave!)

We packaged sliced potatoes, onions, and chives into cute little tinfoil parcels and popped them onto the barbecue for about 20 minutes.

The parcels that were not as jammed full seemed to caramelize the best. There was more room in the tinfoil for the onions to reach direct heat and they got nice and sweet.



Ingredients:

3 large Yukon gold potatoes, sliced
1 med size vadilla onion (or a white cooking onion is fine), sliced
handful of chives, chopped
2 Tbsp. canola oil
good pinch of salt and pepper

large sheet of aluminum foil

Directions:

1. Slice potatoes and onions into 1/2 cm slices and toss in canola oil, chives, salt and pepper.

2. Put a good handful or two of the potatoes into the center of a sheet of aluminum foil and wrap up into a parcel.

3. Place on the barbecue for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked.

Leftovers for Breakfast

Following a successful dinner there is nothing better than a good nights sleep...and then a successful breakfast!

Last night we had company over and dined on beef tenderloin, parmesan asparagus, raspberry salad, potatoes, and bread. I wasn't willing to give up on the meal apparently because this morning I re-did it, breakfast style.

The plate, as you can see above, played host to: scrambled eggs, hash browns, sliced beef tenderloin, and toast.

Not bad for 10 am!

Ingredients:

For Scrambled Eggs:
2 Eggs per person
Assorted veggies, chopped (I used asparagus, red pepper, and leeks)
1/4 c cream per person
1/4 c shredded cheese per person
Salt
Pepper

For Hash Browns:
Left over potatoes
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Seasoning spice (I used Mrs. Dash - Extra Spicy and Club House Roasted Garlic and Peppers)
Butter and olive oil for the pan

Leftover meat, sliced (I used steak)

Directions:

Eggs:

1. Chop veggies and mix with your beaten egg mixture. Add cream, then salt and pepper.

2. Pour into a medium heat pan and allow the mixture to cook slightly. After a few moments, use a wooden or plastic spoon to begin scraping the egg from the bottom and sides of the pan. Every so often, repeat, until all of the egg mixture is scrambled.

3. Add cheese and fold in until melted. Set to the side.

Hash browns:

1. Chop up precooked potatoes into bit-size pieces.

2. Put a bit of olive oil and butter into the pan to prevent the potatoes from sticking, and throw the potatoes into the pan. Whilst the potatoes are frying, add seasonings and garlic powder (enough to coat the potatoes well) and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the potatoes are browning and hot.

Meat:

1. Slice whichever meat you are using, and place onto a hot pan just until it has heated through.

And Finally, assemble your eggs, hash browns, and meat onto a plate, and Voila! Leftovers for Breakfast!