I CHOOSE YOU! Red velvet PokeBall cupcakes

When I saw these online somewhere, I knew they HAD to happen! I wish I'd kept the original website I saw these on. Anyway, anyone who grew up roughly in the 1990s-now knows all about Pokemon, and these aDORable poke ball cupcakes will bring back fond memories and warm fuzzies. Complete with "I choose YOU" accents, these would steal the heart of any geek! #GeekLove 
So cute. 

Ingredients:
1 box red velvet cupcake mix (or whatever kind you like)
White frosting
Red food coloring
Marshmallows (mini)
Chocolate icing or black icing

 Step 1: I cheated and used a box mix. Sorry, but a girl's gotta pass classes. Make the cake mix, and pour into a greased muffin tin or use liners.

 Step 2: Bake at 350 for 14-18 minutes, until cooked through and springy to the touch. Cool fully.
 
Step 3: Spread white icing all over the cupcakes. Then put a dot of red food coloring on one side, and smear it carefully over half of the icing to make the two-toned look.

 Step 4: Put a mini marshmallow in the center, then pipe chocolate or black icing down each side to separate the white and red halves. There you have it, an edible, adorable PokeBall.

 

 You could also pipe the words "I choose you" onto a few to make sure the not-quite-as-geeky get it. Just put some icing in a ziplock bag, and cut a tiny corner off. No need for expensive pastry bags.

Seriously. Dying with the cuteness level of this. These are competition-winning cupcakes too!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The times they are a-changing...

Ok world, listen up. Things are changing around here, and changing soon. Rather than recipes only, sometimes I will include informative posts about things related to the world of cooking. Don't panic, you can still find plenty of culinary inspiration here. I will continue posting all my cheap, easy, fast, fun, filling, creative recipes. To that I will add an enrichment of reader's knowledge on all topics food, cooking and budgeting.

There will also be some tweaks to the layout and a re-naming. From my very first post on this fledgling blog to today,  many things have changed and yet many things have stayed the same. I have survived four years of undergraduate education, a masters degree, a thesis, many experiments, tests, quizzes, long nights, various jobs in restaurants and libraries, and have many great memories. I am no longer in college, but my philosophy of trying new, fun recipes while keeping it cheap and simple has remained. This blog is all about the creative fusion of new, strange ingredients with classic old standbys all while staying within a budget. 

Thus the name has evolved into "Budget Epicurean" to reflect the philosophy that eating inexpensively does not necessarily mean eating flavorlessly. A meal made for pennies can bring you great taste and joy. You can literally have your cake and eat it too!

Epicureanism is actually a system of philosophy based on the thoughts and teaching of Epicurus, a materialist from around 300 BC. He believed that "pleasure" is the greatest good, but unlike hedonism, he claimed that the way to attain such pleasure is to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires. The ultimate form of happiness was a state of freedom from fear (ataraxia) as well as freedom from pain (aponia). Today epicureanism is meant to imply a love of the finer things in life like art, food, and sensual pleasures even to excess. However a true follower of Epicurus knows that happiness does not come from over-indulgence but from balance, prudence, and contentment.

So from now on, look for new posts every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday! 
 

Keep being fabulous, guys!

If you have any comments, suggestions, or wish to write a guest post, please shoot me an email. Keep on creating. Thanks for reading!

Breakfast Strata

This breakfast strata is filling, delicious, cheap and surprisingly easy and customizable. All your typical breakfast favorites make an appearance: eggs, milk, bread, cheese. Then you add in some breakfast meats if that's your thing (bacon, sausage, ham) and/or some vegetables if you like that sorta stuff (spinach, onion, peppers, asparagus), bake it up nice and warm and gooey and enjoy! Whatever you like and have on hand can be mixed in. This turned out divine!

Ingredients:
6-8 eggs, lightly beaten
2 slices bread
1-2 cups cheese (cubed, sliced or shredded)
1/4 cup milk
4 slices ham (or bacon or crumbled sausage)
1/2 cup chopped spinach

Step 1: Beat the eggs and add the milk, mix well. Lay the bread in a sprayed 8x8 oven safe pan.

Step 2: Layer the meat, veggies and cheese on top of the bread.

Step 3: Pour the eggs over top.

Step 4: Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, until the eggs are fully cooked. Let it cool a few minutes, cut into pieces and enjoy!

Tastes even better than it looks, which is pretty darn good!

The bread is slightly mushy but holds texture, and the flavor combination was just perfect. This can easily be vegetarian, but it's just not the same without eggs so I'm not sure if it can be vegan. Maybe a tofu egg substitute? I'll have to dabble more in vegan cooking in the future.

Slow cooker soup-in-a-bag

Dinner can literally not get any easier than:
Step 1 - take bag out of freezer
Step 2 - pour in crock pot
Step 3 - hit "start"
Ok, maybe "pick up phone and dial Pizza hut" is one step shorter, but you have to order, wait, tip the delivery guy, their customer service is outsourced to Pittsburgh... it's way healthier my way. In my humble opinion.


Maybe this is partially inspired by these things you see on Pinterest all the time about a salad in a mason jar. Which is a great idea, and someday I'll try it. But anyhow, with bits and pieces from other meals, I just accumulated veggies in a bag and one day after I'd made chicken and had leftover bones and grease, I used that to create a simple soup.

Ingredients:
Chicken bones, skin, fat from 4 drumsticks
1 tomato, diced
1 potato, diced
3 whole carrots, sliced
1/2 white onion, diced
2 tbsp chicken flavoring
Dash garlic salt and Italian seasonings

That bag can be tossed in the freezer to be pulled out whenever you want a quick meal hot and ready for you that night.

Step 1: Put bag of 'stuff' into crock pot. Add seasonings if you want, or extra chicken meat if you want.

 Step 2: Add water until crock pot is about half full. Set on low all day.

This is easily customizable to whatever veggies or meat you like. You can also add a grain like noodles, rice, or barley. If you're full vegan, don't use chicken leftovers as a base, you can make your own veggie stock.

Salmon Latkes

When you have a mission to eat only (or at least mostly) food you already have for a month, it is certain that you will come up with some... interesting... combinations. That is exactly what I've decided to do, due to moving situations, I have 2 boxes of canned/boxed food and handfuls of frozen meat that I am determined to get through. Since pork chops and rice can only be tolerated so many days a week, I decided to get creative with tonight's dinner. I had some frozen fish fillets and most of a 5 pound bag of potatoes, so I said, self, salmon patties are delightful, and latkes are good. What happens when I put a fish inside a baked potato patty? Turns out, something quite delicious happens.

Ingredients:
2 small potatoes
1 large salmon filet (8-10 oz)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups spinach
2 tbsp sour cream (optional)
2 slices old bread, torn up
2 inch square chunk feta (you can use whatever cheese you like, or none at all)
Garlic salt
Paprika
Parsley


Step 1: Wash the potatoes, poke holes all over with a fork. Microwave 6-8 minutes, until slightly soft. Then dice and boil another 8-10 minutes until mashably soft. (That's a word now.)

 Step 2: Microwave the salmon 2 minutes per side and cut into small pieces.

 Step 3: Mash the potatoes in a large bowl. Add the salmon pieces.

 Step 4: Put all remaining ingredients into a bowl and mash together well. I just dug right in with my hands.

 Step 5: Get about 1/4 cup oil hot in a frying pan over medium heat. Form palm-sized patties with the salmon-potato mixture. Place into the oil and enjoy the sizzle. Cook about 5-7 minutes per side, until nicely browned and cooked through.

 These were delicious, it really is like a mashed potato with a slightly fishy flavor. You can add whatever other spices you like, take out the spinach, add other veggies if you want. If you want it vegetarian, just take out the cheese, sour cream and egg, and use some of the potato cooking water to hold it all together. I guess technically the salmon makes it pescatarian. Maybe lacto-ovo if you leave the egg and sour cream. You can also use bread crumbs, cooked old rice, or oats as a binding agent if you don't want bread or the potatoes.

I topped these with salsa, sour cream, and sriracha and served over a bed of mixed baby greens. Yum!

Make your own pizza, male and female style

You may think I'm weird for saying this, but I don't like pizza that much. I know, how un-American of me. I will eat it if it's around, and I get an occasional craving for a weird one like chicken bacon ranch, but in general if asked what I want for dinner, the answer will not be Little Caesars. My current boyfriend could literally live off pizza and burritos. So we found a compromise, making our own pizza. That way I can have the things I want on it (veggies) and control the sauce, and he can have what he wants (as much meat as possible) at the same time. This is our version of men are from Mars, women are from Venus, in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 tube pizza dough (about $2 at grocery store)

1 jar pizza sauce (~$2)

Toppings of choice: Female half

Spinach & mixed greens

Onions & peppers julienned

Zucchini

Mozzarella cheese

Pineapple

Toppings of choice: Male half

Deli ham

Ground beef (pre-cooked, left over from burritos actually)

Bacon

Mozzarella cheese

Pineapple 

Step 1: Cook the meat if needed, spray a 9x13 oven safe pan. Roll the pizza dough out flat and press to the sides of the pan.

Step 2: Spread on as much sauce as you like. I don't like most pizzas because I end up scraping a cup of sauce off my slices, so I put it on thin.

Step 3: Layer the toppings.

 

 Step 4: Cover in as much cheese as you can handle. Because cheese is sent from heaven to make all foods taste better. Some calories are just worth it.
Step 5: Bake at 425 for ~20 minutes or until crust is brown and crispy and cheese is bubbling.

This recipe is as varied as your imagination, nearly any meat or vegetable can be a pizza topping, so if you like it then go crazy! You can use veggies left over from other meals. It's easy to make a vegetarian (or even vegan without the cheese) pizza. You can fold the dough in half to make a smaller deep-dish pizza. Try a bunch of variations and find what you like best.  No matter what you put on yours, its likely to still be much cheaper and healthier than a purchased one.

Spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs and tomato-chickpea sauce

I had bought a spaghetti squash a few days ago, and finally got around to making it. I was not sure what to make with it, so I went with the "spaghetti" theme and made turkey meatballs and a tomato-chickpea sauce. Like real pasta only tons more fiber and quite delicious!

Ingredients:
Spaghetti squash

Sauce:
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, diced
italian seasonings
1 1/2 cups water/chicken stock

Meatballs:
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 onion, grated
1/4 cup ketchup
1 egg
1/4 cup blue cheese/parmesan cheese

 Step 1: Bake the spaghetti squash face-down for 1 hour at 375 or microwave 10 minutes then bake for 30.

 Step 2: Mix all meaball ingredients in a bowl.

 Step 3: Cook the chickpeas for ~5 minutes. Then add the diced tomatoes, water and seasonings and simmer.

 Step 4: Roll the mix into meatballs and bake for ~10 minutes or until brown and cooked through. Then add to the simmering sauce.

 Step 5: When the squash cools, use a fork to pull the strands out.

Doritos-crusted chicken tenders

My brother had crusted some fresh mahi mahi with Doritos once, and it was amazing. I had about 2 cups of Doritos left in a bag, mostly little pieces, just enough to irritate you. So I decided to make some Doritos chicken. 

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders

1 egg, beaten

2 cups crushed Doritos

Step 1: Smash up the Doritos. Beat the egg. Slice the chicken. These steps should take ~5minutes.

 Step 2: Coat the chicken in the egg. Roll it in the Doritos until coated. Place on a sprayed cookie sheet.

 Step 3: Bake at 350 for at least 45 minutes up to 1 hour, until the chicken is not at all pink.

Enjoy! I had this with my Butternut squash mac-n-cheese, and it was great!

Easy side dish: Oven-Roasted Vegetables

This is seriously one of the best side dishes ever! You can use literally any vegetable you have on hand, it takes only a few minutes, and it is super healthy AND tasty! I could eat oven-roasted veggies with every meal and not get tired of it. 

Ingredients:

1 baking potato, diced

1/2 onion, cut into strips

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1/2 zucchini, diced

1/2 yellow squash, diced

3 tbsp olive oil

Nature's Seasoning

Garlic salt

 

Step 1: Dice up your veggies. This is the only work you have to do.

Step 2: Coat your veggies in olive oil, put into an oven-safe pan.

Step 3: Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake at 350 for ~20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender.

 

You could use any kind of potato here, add broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, parsnips, bok choi, kale, mushrooms, eggplant, the list goes on and on. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Stir Fry

This is one of my favorite go-to meals because: 

a) it is quick

b) it is easy 

c) it is cheap

d) it is different and delicious every time! 

Stir fry is great because it is so versatile. Basically it's rice and whatever else you want to put in it! I'm sure I will be stir frying a LOT this summer, because I'm working on an organic CSA farm (http://www.facebook.com/schoonerfarms) and will have a ton of fresh veggies once the growing season gets into full swing. Also, I'm trying to eat at least 2 full days a week vegetarian, for health purposes. So anyways, here is the stir fry du jour.

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup white rice ($2 for 24 oz)

2 large baby bella mushrooms ($1 for the pack)

Handfull snow peas (Free from the farm)

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped ($1 for pepper)

1/2 large carrot, shredded ($1 for 1 lb bag)

1/2 cup small broccoli pieces ($1 for a head)

1 stick celery (~1 for 2 lbs)

2 tbsp each soy sauce, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce

Garlic salt

Total cost: ~$2

Step 1: assemble ingredients, put oil in a frying pan on low. Boil water for the rice.

Step 2: Dice up all the veggies while the rice cooks.

Step 3: Begin cooking veggies, toughest one first. I put in the broccoli for about 2 minutes alone, then the celery and peppers, then the carrots and peas, and finally the mushrooms. It helps to add a few tbsp water and cover tightly to steam them for a few minutes.

Step 4: Add the cooked rice and sauces, fry everything together for a minute or 2, and enjoy! There are endless variations of this, you can add as much sauce and different kinds or none at all, you can scramble an egg or add meats if you like. This is also very frugal and budget-friendly because you can use up all the odds and ends of vegetables in your fridge before they go bad!

Thai green curry chicken

This was my first experiment with Thai cooking. My master's advisor is from Thailand and she brings us Thai food occasionally and it is always delicious. So I decided I wanted to give it a whirl. So I found some recipes online, and of course did it my own way anyways. 

You will need:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 can coconut milk

1/2 cup oregano

1 hot pepper (I used serrano)

Lemongrass

Gingerroot

Garlic

Limes/lime juice

Vegetables of choice

 I had garlic already, and all the other ingredients added up to less than $20. (The bouillon and lettuce don't count). It also makes a LOT of food, so that's a total steal versus going to an ethnic restaurant.

Step 1: get all the sauce ingredients ready. 2 tbsp diced garlic, 1 diced pepper, 1/4 can coconut milk, 2 inches sliced ginger, 1/4 cup diced lemongrass, 1/2 an onion, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp lime juice, salt & pepper. 

 Put all the curry ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

 Step 2: Put 2 tbsp oil in a large pan, and add the curry. Apparently this releases the oils and flavors (?) Add the rest of the can of coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.

 Step 3: Dice the chicken while the curry simmers.

Step 4: Add the chicken chunks to the curry.

 Step 5: Cut the vegetables you want to use into bite sized pieces. I decided to use green beans and orange bell peppers. Add those to the pan and simmer 5-10 minutes.

 Step 6: Boil the noodles or rice you want to serve with the chicken. I had some oriental rice noodles I purchased earlier.

Step 7: Put rice or noodles in a bowl and add chicken curry. Enjoy!

Obviously, you can make many variations. Add whatever vegetables you like, more or less of certain spices, more peppers if you want it spicy.