Cheap Food Mods 2: Wrath of Pasta

In our last installment of Cheap Food Mods, I told you how to make ramen extra tasty. After a very successful, very cheap pasta dinner for six last night, I thought I would share with you some of the easy and cheap ways to make your pasta extra delicious. Pasta is one of the great three cheap college staples (pasta, ramen and rice) and is super cheap - even after the added cost of toying with it and adding stuff to it.

Sauce!
When shopping for sauce, if you can afford it it's always better to get one of the slightly more expensive and tastier brands rather than settling for the bargain brands. In fact, while we're on the subject of shopping, it's always a good idea to have plenty of pasta on hand, since it's a good "what-the-hell-else-is-in-the-kitchen?" meal. If you see pasta or pasta sauce on sale, stock up!

By the by, if you're not all that into your average pasta sauce and you're a bit sick of butter or olive oil, try Italian Dressing or a vinaigrette of some kind. It's yummy! You may also be into pesto. Yes, I know, it looks funky. It's basically just a bit of cheese, basil and olive oil, though, so it's really good!

Back on the topic of normal sauces, if you need to buy the bargain brand (or even if you buy the good brand), you can easily augment your sauces to make them your own and very tasty, to boot. Always taste your sauce warm before adding anything to it, as without knowing how it tastes you won't know what to add. Salt and pepper are often the first things that people think of adding, and you'll probably know when to add that. A touch of cayenne can add a nice little bite to your sauce. A little bit of sugar is a nice addition to some of the all-natural, super-healthy sauces but is probably not needed for most mass-manufactured sauces. Adding meat can also add some flavor to the sauce...

Protein!
One of the reasons why you feel so unfulfilled when eating nothing but ramen or pasta is the fact that you aren't getting any protein in your diet. Now, meat is usually a bit costly, but you can make a little bit go a long way with pasta. For example, take a half pound of cheap ground beef and cook it up with some diced onions, salt and pepper, drain the fat and add it to your sauce. Easy! For something a bit more flavorful, take a half pound of Italian sausage, cut open the casings and crumble off pieces of the meat into a hot pan, cook with onions, and add it to your sauce. By breaking apart the sausages, you stretch out the meat a bit farther. Chicken is delicious just by itself in pasta, but you can get a bit fancier...

Pan-fried Chicken for Pasta
Serves: 2-3
Active Cook time: ~30 minutes
Difficulty: Super Easy

Hardware
-Medium-sized or smallish pan (I use a 10" diameter pan)
-Fork
-Small Mixing Bowl
-Plate with Paper Towels

Foodstuffs
-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1/2 cup breadcrumbs, preferably Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tsp Italian seasoning
-2tsp pepper
-1 tsp salt
-2 to 3 cups Olive Oil

Cut the chicken into small pieces, no bigger than one inch cubes. Mix the breadcrumbs, flour, and seasonings in the bowl until all the seasonings are evenly spread throughout the mixture. Bread each piece of chicken in the mixture. Meanwhile, place your pan over medium-high heat and put in enough oil to cover the bottom well. When the oil is hot, place some of the chicken pieces to the pan, leaving about 1/4 inch of space between each piece - you'll be cooking in batches, so don't worry when you can't fit everything in the pan.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping over each piece of chicken when the bottom is golden brown and the edges have gotten a bit white. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Check for done-ness on the first piece you remove by breaking it in half with your fork. If the meat is white the whole way through, it's done. Remove from pan and put on a plate covered with one or two paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Start the next batch when there's room and cook as above. Serve with Pasta and enjoy!
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SXSW Quick-post: Ramen!

Okay, so I'm doing SXSW this weekend, so I don't have a ton of time. Luckily, there are recipes that don't take much time to talk about or do! Okay, well this isn't so much a recipe as a guide: How to make ramen suck less. All of us have been there, poor enough that we have little else but ramen, or perhaps there's not much else in the kitchen aside from ramen. Luckily, there are a number of ways to reduce the tedium of plain noodles in a salty broth.

Throw Away the Seasoning Packet
No seriously, that thing has so much unneeded sodium in it, it's not even that good tasting. Replace it with a bullion cube of either chicken or beef, a bit of salt and pepper and a shake or two of Italian Herbs. Alternatively, you can cook your noodles in a canned broth.
If you simply must keep the seasoning packet, my friend Erin swears by cooking the noodles, draining them, then add 1/4 cup whole milk (or half and half) and the seasoning packet to the noodles, giving the sauce a tasty, creamy flavor.

Veg out
Chopped carrots, celery and onion all go very well in a bowl of ramen. Now, fresh vegetables will need to cook a little longer than the noodles will, so add them to your water/broth before the noodles and let them cook nearly through before adding the noodles. As an alternative to fresh vegetables, you can add frozen vegetables to the ramen after the noodles are cooked. It serves a two-fold purpose, both to add flavor and to cool down your soup!

Protein Matters
Adding a little bit of protein will make this somewhat thin meal a little more filling and satisfying. A very cheap way to do this is to add scrambled egg to the soup as the broth is boiling, stirring vigorously to make the egg break up like in egg drop soup. If you prefer something a little meatier, chicken breast or beef strips can be quickly pan-fried and added to your soup.

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Raid-Friendly Kitchen: Setting Up a Pantry

One of the keys to a successful raid is preparation. From simple things such as repairing your gear and showing up at the instance on time to the slightly more difficult and time-consuming process of gem socketing or enchanting your gear and gathering up consumables such as flasks, preparation is a key to success. It is much the same with getting your kitchen together - with a little preparation, you can make it so even when you forget to do a bit of shopping there's something good to eat in your house.

Today we'll discuss the foodstuffs and spices that you should keep around the house, and we'll save what equipment you should keep in your kitchen for another time. Yes, there's a recipe in this post.

Click here to skip past all the lovely information and get straight to the recipe.

Spices
An easy wasy to add a lot of flavor to even the most basic dishes is to keep a well-stocked spice rack. Even if you're on a bit of a budget, picking up one container of spices or herbs at the store each time you make a trip will see you quickly amass a worthy collection of spices. I've placed them in order from most important to least important below:
-Salt
-Pepper
-Italian Seasoning (A simple combination of marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil - this blend if useful in a lot of dishes and is an easy seasoning for a lot of dishes)
-Ground Cumin
-Chili Powder
-Dried Basil
-Dried Parsley Flakes
-Curry Powder
-Bay Leaves
-Garlic powder
-Chicken or Beef Bullion Cubes
-Ground Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Vanilla Extract

The Basics
These everyday staples are ones you'll find yourself using on a somewhat regular basis, things you'll want to have on hand so that when you're making most simple recipes you only need to purchase the perishable goods. You can gradually stock up on these as you need them for a recipe you're using, or just gather them up in one go. Make sure that you replace any of these that you use on your next shopping trip so that you can have them on hand! Unlike the spices, I've put these in no particular order:
-All Purpose Flour
-Baking Soda
-Baking Powder
-Granulated White Sugar
-Brown Sugar
-Olive Oil
-Vegetable Oil
-Cornstarch
-Bread Crumbs
-Soy Sauce
-Worcestershire Sauce
-Vinegar
-Peanut Butter
-Vegetable Shortening
-Onions and Garlic (Okay, so these are technically fresh vegetables. However, they can last in your cabinet for a while if they must, and they are crucial in most dishes. Keep this stuff around!)
-Dried Pasta
-Pasta Sauce
-Egg Noodles
-Ramen
-Rice (I personally recommend using a short or medium grain rice as your everyday rice. My personal favorite variety is Calrose.)
-Canned Diced Tomatoes
-Chicken Broth
-Beef Broth
-Cooking Sherry
-Canned Tuna
-Canned vegetables, beans or fruits that you enjoy

Your Freezer
Okay, so it's not technically your pantry, and your freezer should never be considered a stasis chamber where nothing ever goes bad. However, it is true that stuff in the chill box can last months, maybe even years. Do try to clean out your freezer at least once a year, more if you find it getting crowded in there. Here are a few things to consider keeping in your freezer:
-Frozen Chicken Breasts
-Frozen Hamburger Patties (Get them already frozen, as they will preserve better than freezing your own ground beef. You can use the beef from the patties in other dishes in a pinch.)
-Frozen Vegetables (Your call here. I'm never without a bag of frozen corn in the freezer, though some people like peas better.)
-Butter (Yes, butter! Keep a box in your freezer and you'll thank me the day you run out of butter and are too lazy to go to the store. Just thaw it out in your fridge for a few hours and it'll be good as new.)
-Ice Cream or Popsicles (Spoil yourself a little!)

So what are the benefits of keeping a fully-stocked kitchen?
I'm starving. So hungry I could eat my own arm, and we haven't gone shopping in a while. With only my basic pantry stuff on hand, I was able to cook up a nice little dish that served both my boyfriend and myself with very little fuss at all. It's nothing very fancy, but it's fast and very tasty.

Herb Chicken with Buttered Noodles
Serves: 2-3
Cook Time: 20 minutes or so of defrosting, plus 20 minutes actual cooking.
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Microwave
-Plate
-Small pot with lid
-Colander (strainer)
-Large Pan
-Knife
-Cutting Board
-Stovetop

Foodstuffs
-2 to 3 Frozen Chicken Breasts
-4 tablespoons butter
-1 medium-sized onion
-Italian Seasoning
-Salt and Pepper
-Worcestershire Sauce (about 2 tablespoons)
-One Package Egg Noodles

Place chicken breasts on a plate, microwave to defrost. Follow your microwave's directions on defrosting poultry, as microwave settings vary by manufacturer. This will take somewhere between 15-20 minutes, during which you can be doing something else, like farming primals. Although, it may be handy to dice up your onion now to save you a minute or so of time. So yeah, dice up that onion into small pieces.
Once the microwave tells you it's done, take the chicken out and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat up 2 tablespoons of the butter in your pan over medium heat. Fill your small pot with water up to about 2 inches away from the top, add your lid and set it over high heat to boil. Add the onions to your melted butter in the pan. Sprinkle Italian seasonings, salt and pepper to taste over your chicken, then add to the pan. Sprinkle on some more seasoning to the backside of your chicken, then add the Worcestershire Sauce. Let this cook, stirring every so often to ensure even cooking, for about 10-15 minutes until your chicken is cooked all the way through. You can tell because it's white all the way through and also very tasty.
Long before your chicken is done, though, you'll notice your water boiling in the pot. Remove the lid and add your egg noodles. These noodles will take somewhere between 5-7 minutes to cook through. Don't let them get too soggy - check them for done-ness every minute or so after the 5 minute mark. Once done, drain and rinse these in your colander in the sink, then return the noodles to your pot off the heat of the stove. Once your chicken is cooked through, add the chicken to your noodles along with the remaining two tablespoons of butter. Stir to combine and melt the butter and serve while warm.

Also: hai Saruin~. To the Anvil Raid: Yeah, I didn't do the ramen recipe, I'll save that one for next week. I mainly wrote this up to remind myself that I need more egg noodles when I go to the store today. >.>
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