Concoctions, Elixirs, and Gruel

This is something I made that's cheap, healthy, and easy to learn. Tilapia is one of the cheapest cuts of meat out there; it's a type of fish. Not hard to cook at all.

Ingredients:

• Broccoli
• Tilapia
• Rice
• Olive oil
• Water
• Lemon juice
• Parsley
• Salt and Pepper

Eyeballed all of this. Idk good luck champ.

Frying the Fish (Frish)

Oil the pan with the olive oil. Just squirt a bit in, boy. Get the pan nice and slick.

Turn up the heat to 4. (It's on the knob things on the oven)

You will have to take the tilapia and get it out of the vaccum sealed bag, which is a major pain in the ass that I'm sure you're eager to find out.

Throw the fish on the pan, and once it starts sizzling give it 3-4 minutes or until one of the sides is crispy. Then flip it, and let it cook another 3-4 minutes. Put on the lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. Should be done after that.

Boiling Rice

I'm still figuring out rice. Following this gave me mushy rice. :x

Good luck eyeballing the water and rice, but I guess you should have the water covering the rice. I suppose.

Wash the rice. Rinse the rice under the faucet in a strainer until the water runs clear.

Throw some salt in and bring the water to a boil.

Put the heat to the lowest setting so it stays simmering

Throw the rice in and leave it covered in the pot for 18 minutes.

Turn off the heat. Leave the rice in the pot for another 10 minutes then drain.

Steaming Broccoli

Cut the broccoli into florets. Bite-sized.

Bring water to a boil. Throw in some salt.

Bring the boil down to a simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes

Next time:

I filled the pot halfway, try to fill it to a third and cook only for 15 minutes. (T would never let me get a rice cooker, and also I'm determined to figure this out without one.)

This is based on a southern mac-n-cheese recipe from Eden Westbrook, with a few changes from me. The best mac-n-cheese I've ever had! Check out her website, Sweet Tea and Thyme.

Ingredients:

• Elbow Macaroni
• Water
• Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Grated Mozzerella Cheese
• Grated Italian Cheeses: Asiago, Romano, Parmesean, Fontina... (There's usually a four cheese blend or something at the store)
• A block of cream cheese
• One egg
• 1 cup of half and half
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• Paprika
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Salt and Pepper as needed

(I can't remember the exact measurements I used for most of this... the last time I made this was a year ago, and I'm about to make it again for T's birthday.)

I would say out of the total cheese you're putting into it, 3/8 to be the sharp cheddar, 3/8 mozzerella, and 2/8 the Italian cheeses. The Italian cheeses are strong so you want to make sure you don't overdo it.

Can't remember what I did for the half and half and heavy cream at all. xD

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Get a rectangular baking pan that'll be able to hold all the ingredients and butter the bottom and sides.
• 2. Boil the macaroni and drain the water. Make sure not to cook it completely, leave it a little undercooked. It will finish cooking when you put it in the oven later.
• 3. Take all of the macaroni, Italian cheeses, cream cheese, mozzerella, half and half, heavy cream, and most of your sharp cheddar cheese and mix it all together in a large mixing bowl.
• 4. Crack the egg into the mixture and mix it in thoroughly. Add onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and salt and pepper to your liking. Don't overdo the spices! (Unless if that's your thing...)
• 5. Transfer the mixture to the baking pan, and top with the rest of the sharp cheddar cheese.
• 6. Bake the mac-n-cheese for 35 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.
• 7. Let it sit and cool for 10 minutes after baking and serve!

Optional:

Last time I fried some cubed ham and threw it in before I started baking the mac-n-cheese. Any additions you want to your mac-n-cheese you can throw in this way.

Notes for next time:

• using the full bag of italian cheeses will be too much
• 1 to 1 the small heavy cream container to half and half, it was a bit dry this time
• don't run out of cheese for the top
• cooking a full on ham and using that is ten times better than getting cubed ham.
• don't really need to butter the pan. i forgot this time and it was fine

Fit for a peasant.

I've been trying to eat better to lose weight. I have no idea if this helps lose weight, but when I eat this in the morning it fills me up, and I don't eat as much the rest of the day. So I'm optimistic. Ingredients:

• eggs
• a big idaho potato, or a sweet potato/yam.
• optional: sour cream
• optional: salt

Of course there's a lot more you can add but I'm trying to keep it simple

boiling the egg

So you get water in a pot, and I usually put half of those mega packs of eggs in there. (Read: 9 eggs) I put a bit of salt in the water too. I'm not really sure why. Then you bring the water to a boil. Once it's boiling, shut off the flame and leave the eggs sitting in there for 6 minutes. Then, drain the pot. I put my eggs in tap water after this to try to cool them down as much as possible. I guess you can do ice water like other people say but I'm not a snowflake. Drain that again and they're ready to eat.

cooking a potato ft. microwave

So you stab the potato/yam with a fork a lot because you want give the steam from inside the potato a way to escape. After enough stabbing, I put it in the microwave for 2 minutes 30 seconds, then flip it, and cook for another 2 minutes 3 seconds. If you let it cook on one side for too long, you burn the bottom. Or at least I do. (I'm not very good at cooking) Add whatever you want to the potato afterwards. I put sour cream on Idaho potatoes and leave sweet potatoes plain.

Rasam is a spicy vegetable soup from India.

I tried this at an Indian restaurant. I enjoyed it, but I think many people with a white ass like mine wouldn't. I'm starting to get into spicy food, though the Rasam at the restaurant was almost too much for me. Mine was milder, but not as good. It's okay, I'll keep trying to perfect it though. I would like to know the secret to their soup, but for now I have to work with this:

• 1 Thai Pepper (Also could use red pepper but I hate that spice)
• A fistful of curry leaves
• 1 Tomato
• Tumeric
• Tamarind Paste (or from the root itself)
• Fistful of fresh coriander/cilantro
• crushed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seed
• Vegetable Broth

Try next time:

• More tamarind and tumeric
• Another thai pepper
• Asafoetida if I can find it
• Do not fry/toast anything
• Jaggery/Sugar?
• Lemon Juice?
• Less tomato?

Mince the cilantro and thai peppers. Cut up the tomato up fairly small. Just throw all this shit into a crockpot and let it cook while you're at work. You will be awarded with a healthy vegetable thing that isn't a salad, and reheats in the microwave in 2 minutes.