Coco Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies, are harder to make from scratch then I had realized. Found a classic recipe online and made a few changes

Coco Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 12 table spoon sized cookies

2 sticks of butter/1 cup butter, beaten
3/4th cup brown sugar
3/4th cup white sugar
1 tea spoon Hersey's coco powder
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups of flour
3/4th tea spoon baking soda
1 tea spoon salt
2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips

Take our butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl, beat until fluffy. Beat in one tea spoon of Hersey's coco powder. As it gains a rich brown color beat in two eggs. You want it to have a consistency of Carmel at this point.

In our second mixing bowl we add in our flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk well then slowly add into the first bowl, about a third at a time. Between each time, beat in the new lour till you can't see it. about halfway in add in our two cups of chocolate chips. Once all finished place our mixing bowl in the freezer(if plastic) or fridge (if glass) for about 30 minutes or so.

Pre heat your oven at 350 and place the cookies on your bake rack in either tablespoon or tea spoon sized balls and bake for around 12-15 minutes.

Ending price
for 12 cookies you are looking at about 10 dollars

Tangy Chicken Wings

Something new to the blog is each dish will now have a photo to go with it.

Tangy mild heat wing sauce

Ingredients
Per four wings
 1 table spoon barbecue sauce,
2 teaspoons steak sauce,
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce
pinch of white sugar,
1 /4-1 /2 tea spoon water

Place in a small mixing bowl the barbeque, steak, and hot sauce and stir together. At this stage you test the heat of the sauce, and add a teaspoon at a time as you desire, stirring well. A more mild sauce will have a browner color, while a hotter sauce will have a redder color.

 Add in a pinch of sugar for sweetness and flavor enhancing. Stir again till you can no longer see the sugar then add in the 1/2 teaspoon of water and stir one final time. The water is used to thin out the sauce as though the sauce should coat the meat, without a liquid added it will be too thick to properly coat. Hot sauce may be used instead to get more liquid constancy yet not lose the heat, which water may do. This is meant to be a mild sauce but it can be changed to be hotter as you desire.

End Price
Barbecue sauce:2$
Steak Sauce:2-3$
Red Hot Hot sauce 1.75$
Sugar:2$
Water: free
Rough total for 20 wings:6$

Final comments
This is a sauce and not a meal so not completely fitting here, but as you can see the wings themselves come out quite good. A good party dish or a dish for someone who just happens to enjoy wings.

Shrimp Garlic butter soup

Shrimp Garlic butter soup

1 pound of shrimp, detailed and chopped
1 cup of carrot chopped
1/2 cup of onion chopped

1 1/2 table spoon of garlic powder
1/2 table spoon of lemon pepper
1/2 table spoon parsley

5-6 table spoons of butter
1 1/2 cup of water
1/2 table spoon of flour

Take the first two table spoons of butter, melting it on low heat till the pan is covered and the butter is a
nice yellow color with no large chunks remaining. Add in our shrimp and vegetables. Here you may increase the heat to medium, cooking until the shrimp is a nice deep pink color and the carrots are soft.

Move this aside into another dish/pot but do not drain any butter that remains, we want that for later. Now start another 3 table spoons of butter and once more melt them over low heat. While still on low heat stir in the 1/2 tablespoon of flour once the butter is melted. After mixing well add in the water and once more stir well. Lastly add in your seasoning till all is mixed in. Stir well and you should get a yellow color, if it looks too watery, take another pan and melt another table spoon of butter and add that, then pour half of the butter the shrimp is soaking in to thicken the water.

Once the soup water is a good color, pour it slowly into the same bowl as the shrimp, stirring until fully mixed. Serve and enjoy.

End pricing

1 pound of shrimp:Varies heavily
1 Onion: $1.30
Bag oh carrots: $2.00

Final thoughts

A decent side dish, but not the most filling main dish to a meal. Its something fancy and easy to make.

Cheesy Breaded Chicken

Breading

1 5oz bag of cheese and garlic crutons crushed
1 1/2 cup of Vigo bread crumbs with Romano cheese
1/4 cup of Kraft powder three cheese blend

Place all breading ingredients in a bag and when the bag is sealed, shake to mix throughly.

Beat two raw eggs with a fork or whisk in a bowl until the eggs bubble and look completely yellow.

Season raw chicken as you desire, and bath in the eggs, getting as much covered as you can. Add the chicken into the breading bag and shake well to coat the chicken.

Fry on low heat and serve.

The breading amount should be enough to cover six pounds of chicken., Should you have left overs simply throw the bag in the fridge and cook another breaded meal within three days to make it not go to waste.

Ending price

Breading
Cruton bag:$1-$2
Kraft cheese blend: $4
Vigo Bread crumbs: $1.10

Meat choices
Poultry
Fish

Final comments
This recipe is based around the breading itself and not the meat used with it. Because of the versatilely of the breading, and being a non flour breading, it is good for people who dislike fried chicken in most cases. The oil used does matter, and will effect flavor but thats up to the chef to decide what to use.

Tilapia with Lemon Garlic Sauce

I return after a few weeks of delay with something new

Tilapia with Lemon Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

Tilapia Fillets

Sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 table spoon of sugar

1 tbsp parsley

2 tbsp garlic powder

Double protons if making for a larger group. This size should be enough for one to three people.

For the fillets cook them as you desire. I personally add Italian herbs onto them while grilling for extra flavor. After all the fillets are made, start on the sauce.

Take the butter and simmer it on low heat in a frying pan on the stove. The butter needs to melt into a nice yellow color. Don't let it brown or it'll taste burnt.

Once the butter is ready, take it off the heat and add the flour. Afterwards whisk the two together thoroughly. At this point the sauce should have a noticeable thickness to it, add the herbs here. Whisk again until it is all mixed together, and then add the lemon juice. Whisk one final time and return to low heat to let it simmer and warm up.

The sauce can be made with alternative ways should the lemon be too tart for the cook. Some sugar can remove some of tartness or alternatively reduce the lemon to only a single table spoon.

For those who adore the taste of lemon try with two or two and a half table spoons of lemon juice.

End Price

The main ingredients which need to be as fresh as possible are the Fillets and Lemon juice so I'd say about ten to fifteen all around.

Fillets: $6.50 (2lb)

Lemon juice: $3.00

Garlic powder: $3.00

Lasting value

One meal maybe two.

Final comments: A nice sauce topping for many different kinds of meals to give them a spark of flavor. Works well with chicken as well.

Kraft Pasta Salad and vegetables

A small and healthy side dish to any big meal.

1 Box of Kraft Pasta Salad
1 Bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 2 Quart pot

Cook the vegetables still frozen at the time the bag says, for this I used sit fry Publix mix which  is  cooked at eight minutes with 1/4th a cup of water in it. While that is starting, bring a two quart pot to boil. Mix in the pasta pouch into the boiling water and let it boil for twelve minutes on  high, stirring every few minutes.

At this point the first round of the mixed vegetables would be done, Take them out of the microwave, stir and place in if the bag says to, for my mix it says to add for another four minutes.

After the 12 minutes on the pasta are up drain them out and rinse with cold water, draining the rinse water, before adding the spice bag and mixing throughly. Once done add in the Parmesan cheese bag and serve with the mixed vegetables or mix them up together.

End Price

Kraft Pasta Salad box: $3
Mix vegetables: $1.50

Lasting values
Bowls makable:5-6
Days before it goes bad: About three.

Final comments: A simple healthy side dish that works well with both meat and fish for whatever meal is planned. Also works well at a pot luck dinner of almost any theme.

Chicken Quesadillas

Yummy melted cheese. A party dish or a lunch snack for days.

1-5 Boneless chicken breasts

80z mozzarella or other shredded cheese

Flour tortilla fajita sized.

Spices of your choice

On this dish we need a grill AND a flat grill or frying pan. Take however many breasts you plan on making and thaw them out or if fresh, prepare them with the spices of your choice on both sides while raw, or if you want it without spices place them in the grill for about twenty minutes or so, depending on the heat of your grill. Once finished grilling it grab a knife and start shredding the chicken. One breast can be shredded to fill up to three fajita’s from half pound breasts, but this is another size may vary.

Place the chunks into the fajitas and then spread some cheese over the chicken. Place the flat grill on 250F or a frying pan on three to five. After about three or four minutes the cheese should be melted, be careful for the fajita will be very hot. Let it cool down, and then either cut as you’d like or enjoy.

End Price

Chicken Breasts frozen boneless 3lb bag: $7

Mozzarella 8oz bag: $2.34

20 pack flour fajita tortilla: 2.19

Lasting value

Fajita per Breast: 2-3

Fajita per person: 1-3 a meal

Total Fajita count: 15-20 if cheese runs out

Final comments: This one takes quite a bit of hand work but overall tastes really good and well worth the time.  Making four should take a little under thirty minutes and is a great way of feeding a friend crazing tacos without going out to eat. Main thing to watch with this meal is burring the cheese of tortilla, since both burns quickly.

Kickin Salmon

Kickin Salmon Fillets

Salmon with a spicy punch, great for those who like a bit of heat, also a good meal to make for guests.

Salmon fillets

Oven

Bake sheet

Cayenne pepper

Lemon pepper

The following spices are all included in Ms. Dash Chicken Grilling blend. I suggest picking it up.

Oregano

Parsley 

Basil

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Ms.Dash Chicken Grilling blend:  http://www.mrsdash.com/products/Grilling-Blends-Chicken/11

Defrost your salmon fillets are place them onto a bake sheet. Following the instructions from the bag you bought the salmon preheat the oven at the temperature suggested. While the ove is preheating take out your spices and a pinch or two of each. Pinches in this case is your index middle fingers and thumb, after doing so take your index finger and lightly rub the seasoning into the fillets, make sure to be careful to not rip the fillets. After finishing one side flip the fillet over and repeat the process. Bake as long as suggested for the size of fillets on the container or butcher’s suggestion and enjoy. For extra flavor take an eighth an oz of lime or lemon juice on each fillet. Do not do if you dislike either flavor.

End price

Salmon: Varies but frozen fillets are around $4-$6 depending on the area, store and season.

Spices: All together you are looking at around ten dollars for cayenne pepper, lemon pepper and Ms.Dash Chicken blend. However you’ll have the bottles of spices for months.

Lasting Value

 Two fillets a day: Three to Four days for one person

One fillet per plate: Up to six or seven people, depends on bag.

Final comments: Two good side dishes with this meal are mashed potatoes or a small to medium sized chef salad to help the meal be more filling. A bag of instant mix mash potatoes should only cost a dollar. Due to the high amount of pepper the spices may be too spicy for some people, however a simple fix is to use only half as much cayenne pepper as lemon pepper used

Romaine Chef Salad

Romaine Chef Salad

A simple meal that does wonders for your body. Helps digestion pains and irregularities in your stomach.

1 Head of Romaine Lettuce

Vegetables of choice

Six to ten slices of lunch meat of choice

1 bag of crouton of choice

Take a large bowl and tear off each leaf, twisting them in your hand to shred the leaves of lettuce to a manageable size. Keep doing so until only the stalk in the very middle of the romaine remains. Should you have an herbivore pet like a guinea pig cut up the remaining stem into chucks for a healthy snack. Once shredded added in the vegetable(s) of choice and mix this way the vegetables are not cluttered into a single spot. Take the lunch meat and a sharp knife and cute the lunch meat into rectangular sections, mixing it into the bowl, and again mixing up the salad. Mix it up well and add some croutons to your bowl and your dressing of choice. Enjoy.

End Price

Basic Salad Price (this is what I use in mine)

Head of Lettuce: $2

Lunch meat two 99c packages: $2

Canned black olives: 89c

Creaser dressing croutons: $1.27

Rounded Price: $6

The price in this dish is really up to the shopper and the store, since it can be added with basically anything the cook desires to make. With this in mind the dish greatly varies per person. On a tight budget with less than five hundred a month for food this salad is a great and healthy edition to your meal plan.

Lasting Value

Bowls per salad: Five to six

Days it can last before going bad

Non sealed container: four days

Air tight tub aware: Eight days

Final comments: Besides being a good meal, it also works as a good side dish when you have a small meal planned and you need a new dish added to it. Mixing this with the Kickin salmon is a decent twenty dollar dinner that should feed six to eight people with enough salad for seconds.

Sweet Vanilla Chai Tea

Sweet Vanilla Chai Tea

For those who like sweet drinks but don’t want to feel like your stomach just downed a gallon of bubbles here is a recipe for you.

1 Pot (gallon sized preferred)

Spicy Chai tea bag (big low brand is the one I use)

¼ cup of Vanilla Extract Imitation ( 1/8 cup of vanilla will be weaker but make the vanilla stretch out longer)

2 or 3 table spoons of sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)

Place the pot on high until the water is just about to boil or is boiling, and then add in the teabag, wrapping the string around the handle to make sure the tag doesn’t light on fire. Let the teabag sit in for two minutes before adding the ¼ cup of vanilla first follow by the 2 or 3 table spoons of sugar, stirring with the spoon once the sugar is added. The tea should have a strong vanilla smell and be a maroon red color.

End Price: Eight to ten dollars

Tea bags 20 pack: $3.20

Vanilla extract imitation 8oz: $3.50

2lbs off sugar: $3.40

Prices vary on store and state.

Lasting Value

Per Pot: A day or so

Pots per ingredients: four pots with ¼ cup eight pots with 1/8 cup of vanilla.

Final comments: The vanilla extract is the most expensive ingredient, since for every eight pots you’ll need to get more, however you can experiment how much vanilla you want to use to either stretch out its worth, or control the sweetness. The drink is also great at helping sore or dry throats, though too much sugar will make you thirsty. Half a glass of this tea and a glass of water in separate glasses is a great way to fight a cold. Also a decent alternative to coffee, though less powerful.

New Blog First Post

I see no better way to start a new blog then to do an introduction post on why I started this blog. Most young adults in the united states are often either buying from home, or like me, only eating cause of government money. With this blog I suggest meal plans that can feed a group of people for well under twenty dollars with each meal. Most of my meal plans will be dinners.

I started cooking this year, but my mother has always instilled in me the desire to cook so I learned as much as I could as fast as I could. This blog will be a learning experience for both you my readers and me as I try to bring you a new meal at least once a week. Never be afraid to post in the comments meals I could try and make. The best cook books are ones built on a community.