Sorbet Summer Breeze

This drink is great in the summer. Just pick out your favorite fat free sorbet flavor, grab a diet sprite and thats all you need!

Take however many scoops of sorbet that you want and put them in a glass. Fill the rest with sprite, but do it slowly, because it bubbles at first and may spill over! If you aren't counting calories, or if you want to serve this at a summer party, add in your choice of alcohol, such as tequila. It makes a refreshing drink for those hot days by the pool!

Calories:

Diet Sprite: 0 cal
Fat Free Sorbet: about 110 cals per 1/2 cup

Total cal: Depends, but usually under 100 cals per serving!

Cost:
1 20 oz Diet Sprite: $1.29
Large tub of Sorbet: $1.75

Total cost: $3.04

"Orange Ya Hungry?" Stir-fry (with Quorn!)

I love chinese food, but most of the time when you're in college, all you can afford is the "all you can eat" versions which usually aren't very healthy! My version of stir fry is good for you and soooo filling. Instead of a normal meat product, I added Quorn. Quorn has more protein than chicken, with less calories and it also has a nice serving of fiber. Instead of traditional noodles, I am using Spaghetti Squash, which, when cooked produces noodles similar to angel hair pasta. So, with this recipe, you are really getting a nice big serving of veggies!

You will need:

1/4 cup spaghetti squash
3/4 cup bag of frozen stir-fry veggies
2 tbs. Lite Soy Sauce
1 tbs Orange Juice
1 Quorn filet
Garlic Salt (optional)
Spinach leaves (optional)

Directions:

1) SPAGHETTI SQUASH: Cut the spaghetti squash in half. Remove the seeds using a fork. Sprinkle with a seasoning such as garlic salt, and add in a few pieces of minced garlic. Place both halves face down on a foiled cooking sheet. Use a fork and stab holes on the back of both halves. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until tender. When it is tender, you will be able to scoop out the insides, which, when ready, should come out like strands of spaghetti noodles.

2) Microwave the Quorn filet until warm. Remove. Place in shallow bowl and pour in 1 tbs of orange juice and 2 tbs of lite soy sauce. Allow to sit on each side for about 3-5 minutes.

3) Take stir-fry veggies and cook in a skillet on high for a few minutes.

4) Remove Quorn from marinade. Pour leftover marinade in skillet with veggies. Once the veggies start sizzling, add 1/4 cup of spaghetti squash. Cut Quorn into small squares and add to skillet. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and allow to cook for another minute.

5) Remove from heat, and serve. I added in spinach leaves at the very end to have some more veggies.

Serve with a nice cup of Miso soup. (See recipe below)

Calories:

Orange Juice: Depends..I'm guessing around 15 cal
1/4 cup spaghetti squash: 31 cal
2 tbs lite soy sauce: 30 cal
3/4 cup stir fry veggies: 30 cal
1 Quorn filet: 80 cal

Total cal: 186 cals

Costs:

Spaghetti Squash: $3.98
Soy sauce:$2.00?
Stir-fry veggies: $1.39
Orange Juice: $1.09
Quorn filet (4): $3.49

Total cost (includes leftovers): $11.95

Me So Yummy Miso Soup

Miso soup makes a great side for any Asian cuisine. You can buy it, ready to heat and serve at any grocery. I really like Southern Tsunami's Natural Miso Soup.

Directions: Open container, empty prepackaged ingredients into container, add water, and microwave for one minute. Enjoy!

Calories: 30

Price: around $1.00

Strawberry Slim Cake & Peanutbutter and Banana Dream

Strawberry Slim Cakes:

You will need:

1 whole grain cinnamon rice cake
1 tbs of low fat/fat free strawberry cream cheese
2 strawberries, halved
honey (optional)

Directions: Spread strawberry cream cheese over top of cinnamon rice cake. Top with 4 strawberry halves. Lightly top with honey if desired.

Peanutbutter & Banana Dream:

You will need:

1 whole grain cinnamon rice cake
1 tbs. of reduced fat peanut butter
1/2 banana
"I can't believe its not butter" 0-cal butter spray
Honey (optional)

Directions: Cut banana into circular slices. Spray a small skillet with 0-cal butter spray. Turn heat on medium/low. Add banana slices. Cook on both sides until lightly golden and mushy. On a cinnamon rice cake, spread 1 tbs of peanut butter. Top with banana slices and add honey if desired.

The cals on both of these vary according to peanut butter type, fruit size/amount, and use of honey. They are both still incredibly lo-cal options for a dessert or even breakfast.

1 whole grain cinnamon rice cake = 50 cal
1 tbs peanut butter = 95 cal
1 tbs LF/FF strawberry cream cheese = 35 cal

Prices vary, but still remain low.

Garnish with a glass of skim milk and enjoy!

Jewish inspired "Bagels" and lox with capers

I love visiting my boyfriend in Seattle. The last time I was up there, he introduced me to a breakfast of bagels with lox (smoked salmon). This is a traditionally Jewish recipe, although I am aware of many different people who enjoy it. However, due to its high calorie content, I have not been able to enjoy bagels with lox for a long time..until now. I replaced the bagel with a plain rice cake. Directions below..

You will need:

1 plain rice cake
smoked salmon (I buy the cheap, packaged kind!)
Fat free cream cheese
Capers (optional)

The directions are pretty simple...

Spread 1 tbs of FF cream cheese on the rice cake. Add desired amount of lox. Garnish with capers. Enjoy!

Calories:

1 plain rice cake = 35 cals
1 tbs FF cream cheese =15 cals
Capers = barely any cals
Lox: my entire package has about 80s cals..I used very little of it..so let's just guess = 20 cals

Total cals: roughly a little over 70 cals, depending on your amount of salmon

Price:
Lox: $3.39
Cream cheese: $1.74
Jar of capers: $2.25
Rice cakes: depends on brand, but usually pretty cheap. I'm guessing around $2.00

Total price: roughly $9.38

Happy breakfast!

Veggie Lovers "Chicken" Piccata

You will need:

1) Spaghetti Squash
2) 1 Quorn "Chicken" Cutlet
3) Minced Garlic
4) Lemon Juice
5) Olive Oil
6) Seasoning Salt (Garlic)
7) Capers

Chicken Piccata is one of my favorite plates to order at Italian restaurants. I thought it would be fun to simplify the recipe to make a healthier version. Usually the chicken in the recipe is lightly breaded. I don’t think the breading (or chicken) is all that necessary to make it a delicious meal. So I replaced the chicken with a Quorn filet. You can find Quorn in most healthy grocery stores .Quorn has more protein and less calories than a chicken cutlet. It also has fiber. I also replaced the angel hair pasta with “noodles” from a spaghetti squash.

Directions:

1)SPAGHETTI SQUASH: Cut the spaghetti squash in half. Remove the seeds using a fork. Sprinkle with a seasoning such as garlic salt, and add in a few pieces of minced garlic. Place both halves face down on a foiled cooking sheet. Use a fork and stab holes on the back of both halves. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until tender. When it is tender, you will be able to scoop out the insides, which, when ready, should come out like strands of spaghetti noodles.

2) Heat 1-2 tbs. olive oil with a pinch of minced garlic in a skillet. Sauté Quorn filets until heated all the way through. Add a tsp. of lemon juice. Remove Quorn filet and place on a serving of the pasta. Sprinkle with garlic salt/your preference of seasoning to taste. Pour leftover olive oil/lemon juice sauce over pasta and chicken. Garnish with capers.
*If you wish to have more of a sauce on your pasta, you can always spray it with 0-calorie “I can’t believe its not butter” spray.

Serve along with a salad or your favorite vegetable.

Calories per serving

1 cup spaghetti squash, 1 Quorn filet: 111 cals

1 tbs of capers has 2 calories
1 lemon wedge has 1 calorie
Olive oil is high calorie, and typically 1 tbs contains around 120 cals. You may substitute this if you wish, but remember that it is good for you.

Total: 234 cal per serving.

Price total:

1 spaghetti squash = $3.98
1 bottle lemon juice = $1.49
Quorn filets (4) =$ 3.49
Jar of capers= $2.25
Garlic (Depends. I bought mine minced in a jar a month ago, and it has lasted me a long time.)

Rough total: $11.19

Remember that you will not be using ALL of your spaghetti squash, so safe the rest of the noodles for later, and they can go towards another meal! Same goes for the other 3 Quorn filets. We will be using the capers again tomorrow.

Coming soon!

Welcome to my college food blog! Currently, I have not posted any recipes. That is because I need to go grocery shopping today. Right now I am living off rice cakes and cheese. If I don't make it to the store today, I will be living off of stolen crackers from my roommate's side of the pantry!

I created this blog because I felt that college students needed an alternative to ramen noodles and late-night pizza. However, after looking through many of the published "College" cookbooks, I noticed two things:

1) The receipes were not easy and called for a ton of excessive ingredients that end up going to waste.

2) The recipes were not healthy, and many of them included RAMEN NOODLES as a main ingredient! Come on people, we've had just about enough of those sodium filled fat-packs of pasta.

My recipes will be based on very low calorie and low fat ingredients. I believe in food that not only fills you up, but serves a purpose to give needed nutrients to the body.

Feel free to save some leftovers from your meal. Those can come in handy for late-night grubbing after you get in from whatever awesome keg party that you attended. After all, you probably just consumed 3,000 calories of alcohol. Do you really want to order an entire late-night pizza that you would most likely drench in ranch sauce? Didn't think so.

So, instead of your usual night time fat-fests of pizza, taco bell, and burgers, eat your healthy leftovers designed by ME- The Cheap, Easy College Cooking Chic! Together, we can stay healthy for a low price, while still managing to impress that hottie from your chem lab with your soon-to-be awesome cooking skills.

To the children in the dorms: Sorry, most of these recipes call for a kitchen that is equipped with more than a 40 watt microwave. Maybe you could go find someone older to date, that way you can use them for their kitchen!

See you all soon!

-The Cheap, Easy College Cooking Chic :)