Sweet & Salty

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp butter
½ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
Pretzels
Bakers chocolate

How To:

1.      Combine peanut butter, butter, and sugars in a bowl.
2.      Mix until well blended. Continue to add sugar until mixture can be rolled into balls.
3.      Sandwich the peanut butter mixture between two pretzels.
4.      Freeze for about 30 mins.
5.      While it’s freezing, melt chocolate in microwave for 30 second intervals until fully melted.
6.      Dip pretzel sandwiches half way in the chocolate.
7.      Refrigerate until you want to eat!

I like the combo of the sweetness from the chocolate and the saltiness from the pretzels. It’s a nice snack to enjoy throughout your week or however long they last!!

Going Bananas

Stumbled upon a version of this! What’s not to love?!

Ingredients:

Bananas
Bakers chocolate
Peanut butter

Prices:
Bananas: $1.78
Chocolate: $2.64 (but I had some left over from previous recipes!)
Peanut butter: $2.89
TOTAL: $7.31

How To:

1. Cut bananas into thick slices.
2. Lay out on wax or parchment paper.
3. Microwave peanut butter and chocolate together for about a minute.
4. Stir and heat until its well blended and a smooth mixture.
5. Dip banana pieces in the mix then lay on the wax paper.
6. Spoon rest of the mix over the banana pieces if there is any left over.
7. Either enjoy like this (after the chocolate mix cools of course!) or cover and freeze for the night!

Simple enough! Once again the chocolate can be difficult to melt but I feel like I’ve done it so many times it wasn’t nearly as bad. I like this recipe because it’s allowing you to indulge in your sweet tooth without being too unhealthy! Try it out!!

Baked Potato

Ingredients:
Potato
Butter
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Salt & Pepper

Prep Time: 1 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

How To:
1. Scrub the potato.
2. Prick holes with fork.
3. Cook on high for 5 mins.
4. Turn over and cook for 5 more.
5. Cook until potato is soft.
6. Take out and cut in half.
7. Mash up the inside with a fork.
8. Add salt, pepper, butter, and cheese.
9. ENJOY!

Simple enough, huh! Can be eaten as a snack or veggie with another dinner. I heard they come out softer in the microwave than they do if they are cooked in the oven. Be careful not to over cook though, no one likes a burnt baked potato!

Morning Madness

Always busy in the AM and don’t have enough time to make it to the caf? Try this breakfast solution.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

Salt

Pepper

Butter

Milk

Cheese (optional)

Prep Time: 4 mins (or however long it takes to crack 2 eggs!)

Cook Time: 3 1/2 mins

How To:

1. Melt butter for 30 seconds.

2. Crack both eggs into microwave-safe bowl.

3. Stir and add salt and pepper.

4. Microwave on high for 1 1/2 mins.

5. Take out, stir, add cheese if you want.

6. Microwave for another 1 1/2 mins.

7. If eggs still look soupy, microwave on intervals of 30 sec.

My best friend tried this recipe and she said they came out sort of weird. She said it was super fast and easy to make but the texture was different. I assume that is because of the heat distribution in the microwave she used because some of the reviews online from similar reipces talk about how great they are. If you’re in a hurry, it’s convenient and you can keep getting ready while they are cooking. Try them for yourself!

Potato Chips

Chips are the perfect snack food but they are always loaded with unhealthy ingredients. These chips use barely any butter/oil or salt making them much better for you than normal chips!

Ingredients:

2 potatoes

Butter

Salt

Parchment paper

Cost:

Potatoes: $1.18

Parchment paper: $2.19

TOTAL: $3.37

(I already had the butter and salt from previous recipes so I didn’t include them in the total. Feel free to look at the other recipes to figure out the prices)

How To:

1. Scrub potatoes.
2. Slice potatoes super thin and lay on parchment paper.
3. Rub a bit of butter on the top.
4. Sprinkle salt for flavoring.
5. Cover with parchment paper.
6. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, check to make sure they aren’t getting too crispy.
7. Microwave on high for 2 more minutes.
8. Take out and munch!

You have to try this! I had NO idea you could make chips in the microwave?! The hardest part is slicing the potato because you want them to be really thin. Only microwave them until they are golden brown because once they get too dark  they become burnt tasting. Other than that, they are pretty good and simple to make!

Chicken Salad Sammy

Chicken salad sandwiches? What a classy little lunch this could be! Super easy and made right in the dorm room.

Ingredients:

Can of chicken

Mayo

Salt

Pepper

Croissants (or any type of bread you want)

Prices:

Canned chicken: $2.90

Mayo: $2.19

Croissants: $3.49

TOTAL: $8.58

How To:

1. Open can of chicken and drain water.
2. Pour in bowl and chop up into small pieces (I attempt to almost shred it).
3. Add mayo and mix until chicken is coated.
4. Include salt and pepper to add flavor.
5. Put on the sandwich and bite in!

 

When I was younger and my parents were at work, my brother and I would make this for lunch. My parents also made it for dinner when we had a late night at soccer or football practice. There really is no wrong way to make it so you can’t mess up! You could add a microwavable vegetable on the side, some chips, or easy mac to complete it. Lovin’ life and lovin’ this lunch!

Starting Your Day Off Right

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’m sure you’ve heard that a million times in your life! But seriously, breakfast is essential so try this fruit and yogurt parfait to jump start your morning.

Ingredients:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Vanilla Yogurt
Granola

Prices:
Strawberries: $3.97
Blueberries: $3.59
Yogurt: $2.19
Granola: $4.29
Total: $14.04

How To:

1. Rinse all berries.
2. Slice strawberries.
3. Add a thin layer of yogurt in a bowl (I used a tubware container! Haha).
4. Layer berries on top.
5. Layer yogurt, layer berries, layer yogurt, layer berries until it’s up to the top!
6. Layer granola to top it off.
7. Eat up!!

Don’t let the price of the ingredients sway you away from trying this. They are enough to make way more than one. You could even eat it as a snack. It’s healthy, filling, and will start your day off right. There’s not really a set amount of berries or yogurt per parfait because it depends mostly on the bowl size. You can use any flavor yogurt and other types of berries if you want. Plus you can layer it in any order! Enjoy J

(Obviously not the one I made but just so you get a general idea!)

Rice & Chicken Mix Up

Looking for a healthy lunch or dinner? The solution is simple… rice and chicken mix up!

Ingredients:

Rotisserie chicken
1 cup white rice
1 teaspoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups water

Cost:
Rotisserie Chicken: $2.97
Rice: $1.98
Butter: $2.98
Salt:$0.99
Total: $8.92

How To:

1. Add rice, butter, and water to a microwave safe bowl.
2. Leave uncovered and microwave for 5 minutes.
3. Take out and stir.
4. Microwave uncovered for about 15 minutes.
5. Mix with fork.
6. Let sit for a few minutes.
7. While its cooling, cut up pieces of the chicken.
8. Mix in & enjoy!

Rice is one of the easiest things to make in a microwave. Even though it is a little time consuming, many people still choose to cook rice in a microwave rather than the stove. I got lemon pepper chicken to add a little more flavor to the plainness of the rice. Feel free to add in other spices or veggies. Broccoli is an easy one to cook in the microwave (many grocery stores have frozen broccoli with microwavable directions on them) and it would probably spice things up a bit. It’s nice because you can use the same chicken from the BBQ chicken sandwich, that is if you make these two recipes within a few days of each other. Like I said, this is for sure a sufficient meal and its healthy for you too! So why not try it!

Indoor BBQ

The taste of that mouthwatering barbeque sauce always reminds me of those awesome summer days! Bring that flavor to the comfort of your dorm room with this 2 minute BBQ chicken sandwich.

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken

1 pack of hamburger buns (or any bread really)

1 bottle of any flavor barbeque sauce

Cost:

Chicken: $2.97

BBQ sauce: $1.26

Rolls: $0.99

Total: $5.22

How To:

1. Tear/ cut pieces of the rotisserie, precooked chicken.

2. Layer onto a hamburger bun or any other type of bread.

3. Pour on some BBQ sauce.

4. Yeeeeeehaw!

Seriously the simplest recipe ever! Took be about 2 seconds to make! The rotisserie chicken is the only tricky part because you must keep it refrigerated. I left mine cold but there are ways to reheat it. The wrapping on the chicken I bought says microwave 5-7 minutes. However, this could of course vary between different brands. Most websites I saw suggests keeping the chicken for no more than 3-4 days but even though this seems like a short time, many other recipes can use chicken (quesadillas, nachos, etc.). You can also use whatever type of BBQ sauce you’d like. So once again, it caters to your specific taste! Try it!

Add A Little Dip To Your Chip

Tired of the same ole chip dips? Try something new, tasty, and good for you as well!

 Ingredients:

1 can black beans

1 can white shoepeg corn

Salt

Sugar

3 caps full apple cider vinegar

2-3 green onion

Tortilla chips

Cost:

Beans: $1.07

Corn: $1.09

Salt: $0.99

Sugar: $ 1.98

Apple cider vinegar:$1.07

Green onion: $1.09

Tostito Chips: $3.34

Total: $10.63

How To:

1. Open can of corn, drain out liquid, pour into bowl.

2. Open can of beans and rinse.

3. Drain and pour into bowl.

4. Dice 2-3 green onions and add to bowl.

5. Sprinkle salt over top.

6. Add two tablespoons of sugar.

7. Add three cap fulls of apple cider vinegar (way easier to measure by!)

8. Mix and enjoy with chips!

 

Not only is it simple, its healthy for you too. My boyfriend's mom use to make this over the summer except she added pieces of cheese to it (I think it was feta!). I ate my dip as a snack before soccer practice and the beans filled me right up. This recipe yields a large amount though so I suggest refrigerating the rest. I saved mine for a late night snack!