crispy cheese and egg burritos

before we roast us some veggies, i just have to share this recipe. i eat it often. okay, more than often. my bff's husband makes these for them and from the minute i made it its my go-to lunch or dinner when there's no other plan (remember, my hubby works out of town sometimes... we often run on no dinner plan these days). this is my bff who i remember frying just cheese in a pan in a pan in college. ha. love her. and her crispy cheese. wowsers!

make sure to follow the directions closely - the cheese all crisped to the bottom of the egg rocks my world. enjoy!!

crispy cheese and egg burritos
ala mark and bek

1 egg
salt and pepper
a handful of cheese (cheddar or cheddar jack)
tortilla
salsa

1. heat a frying pan over medium heat. spray with non-stick spray. crack egg into small frying pan. break yolk and spread around. lightly season with salt and pepper.
2. let the egg cook until 1/2 way done. spread a generous handful of cheese over the egg and let it cook another minute while the cheese oozes into the gooey side of the egg.
3. flip the egg so the cheese side is now down. finish cooking egg and make sure cheese gets brown and crispy.
4. when egg is almost done, put the tortilla on top of the egg in the pan and let it get warm.
5. wrap egg in warm tortilla, crispy cheese side down (otherwise the salsa will soak in and make the cheese not crispy), and top with salsa.


that's my dad's new salsa on the burrito. i'll share that recipe soon!

confession and a quick weeknight meal

so i have a confession - i'm pregnant! we're super excited to welcome another baby to our little family in october.

the reason it is a confession is because it is an explanation for my highly marginal food blogging the last 3 months. it has been hard to figure out things i want to eat, much less mustering up the desire to cook them. i'm feeling better now, so hopefully my blogging will get a little bit better.

when i made the pasta e fagioli last week i bought a $1 loaf of french bread to go with it. it was super yummy with the soup, but i always hate wasting half a loaf since fresh french bread gets stale so fast! and then i remembered something my mom used to do - so here's a quick weeknight fix great for leftover, day-old french bread.

french bread pizza

1. cut a loaf of french bread in half (as shown in pics above). top with favorite pizza toppings.
2. bake in oven at 400 degrees just until cheese is melted (since if you cook it longer it makes your french bread harder). yum!!

serve with a yummy side salad for a healthier meal!

planning a weekly menu

i got to speak to some girls in my ward tonight about cooking healthy on a budget. they are all low-budget (preferred descriptor to poor!) student types like i am, so it was really fun to hear all of their ideas and their experiences. thanks, girls, for hearing me out and for your contributions!

one of the things i shared with them was something i thought i should publish here in the skinny bovine’s kitchen as well. so, here it is!!!

make a weekly menu – why plan ahead?
here are some basic reasons:

• planning a menu for the week allows you to make a shopping list
• when you have a shopping list you can get through the grocery store quicker because you don't have to wander up and down the aisles trying to think of something to make for dinner
• if you don't have a list, you often forget things and then you have to go back to the grocery store again that week to get them (this = more time and money and gas wasted!)
• if you have a list you don't buy as many bad things (like chips, soda, candy or weird expensive things you "might" use)

want to save even more money? plan according to sales.

• stop throwing away your junk mail - your weekly sale ads for local grocery stores are priceless!
• plan your meals by what is on sale. example - last week cabbage was on sale so i made the delicious veggie soup recipe found below for our meatless monday. if avacados are on sale (i only buy them when i can find them once or twice a year 4 for $1), make some guacamole and go mexican!
• also from your sale adds, buy things in bulk that you know you will use. i bought a case of black beans from smiths a few months ago at $0.44/can and we've already used a good portion of them because we love black beans!

and here's that veggie soup recipe (compliments of my friend holley) i just mentioned. sorry no pics, my good camera is broken and my back up was otherwise occupied. i made whole wheat breadsticks to go with this soup from here and it was delicious, fast, healthy and cheap meal!

garden veggie soup (4 servings)

1 1/3 cup sliced carrots

1 cup diced onion

3-4 cloves garlic, diced (depends on how big!)

6 cups broth (chicken, beef, veggie)

3 cups diced green cabbage

1 can green beans, drained

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced zucchini

1. spray pan and sautee carrots, onions and garlic for 5 minutes

2. add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano and salt. bring to a boil.

3. reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. stir in zucchini and heat 3 to 4 more minutes.

the incredible, edible egg

since i'm nursing a baby, exercising and am a generally insatiably hungry skinny bovine, a quick, protein-rich snack is a must in my day. for me, that protein/energy fix is usually a hard-boiled egg (salted, of course!). here are just a few reasons eggs are skinny bovine-worthy:

• they are good fat, high-quality protein and not as linked to bad cholesterol as researchers used to think. (for more on the health benefits of eggs click here.)
  
• soooo cheap! on average they are less than $0.20 per egg - on sale they're even less!
  
• so many different ways to eat them - hard-boiled, scrambled, over easy, etc, etc, etc. keeps it interesting so you don't get bored of them.
  

make a batch of hard-boiled eggs to try for a quick snack at your house. my mom taught me how to make perfect hard-boiled eggs. here are the steps:

1. arrange eggs in the bottom of a large pot.
   
2. add cold water just above the top of the eggs.
   
3. bring to a boil on the stove and then turn down so it is barely at a rolling boil.
   
4. leave at rolling boil for 15 minutes.
   
5. remove from heat, drain hot water and run cold water over eggs. let eggs sit in the cold water until they are cool.

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i don't particularly like the usual "breakfast for dinner" scenario, with syrup, orange juice and the like - something hearty is better in my book. that's another fun thing about eggs - they are hearty enough to eat for dinner. when i was a freshman in college my best friend maggi taught me to make "cheesy waffles". she liked to top them with syrup, but i like to put eggs on mine and eat them like a sandwich. so in honor of my maggi, we'll call this recipe "cheesy waffles and eggs" and a bonus of "quick breakfast cobbler".

cheesy waffles and eggs & quick breakfast cobbler

cheesy waffles and eggs
2 eggs - cooked your favorite way
waffle mix, made as per directions
cheese (sharp cheddar is yummiest, but whatever you have will work!)

1. pour waffle batter into waffle iron (the thinner the waffles, the better!). top with cheese as seen in picture below. (top with cheese before you close the waffle iron.)
2. while waffles are cooking, make your eggs as desired.
3. top waffles with eggs. cover in syrup, more cheese, eat with a fork, eat like a sandwich - whatever you'd like!

quick breakfast cobbler (1 piece of fruit serves 2 people as a side dish)
1 ripe peach or nectarine
3 tablespoons oats
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar

combine all ingredients. heat in microwave for 1 minute.

start your day with sense, for cents

if you are cooking on a budget, every meal counts. why not make your first meal your cheapest one and leave the rest of your alloted daily food cash for your bulkier meals? despite how cheap the "8 for $8" cereal sales or generic-brand bagels are at the local grocery store, these foods disappear too quickly (and aren't inexpensive enough) to really be considered "cheap".

hot cereal is the way to go for a truly discount and healthy breakfast. what makes hot cereal skinny bovine-worthy?

• variety. oatmeal, farina or germade (name brand=cream of wheat), 9 grain and cracked wheat are some of my favorites. buy quick oats in bulk basically anywhere, farina or germade at your local grocer and 9 grain and cracked wheat in the bulk foods of any whole foods market.
  
• more variety. just a few suggestions of many possibilities for toppings: brown sugar, white sugar, honey, milk, butter, fresh fruit, frozen fruit, canned fruit, seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, etc.), sour cream and salt and pepper. adding fruit or milk are especially good as you knock out an additional food group or two by including them.
  
• hot cereal is CHEAP!!! you can feed your whole family for literally pennies. the topping you put on it or the glass of milk you drink with it may be cheaper than the cereal itself.
  
• hot cereals are healthy. bagels and cold cereal are full of white flour and nothing with any substantial health benefits, but hot cereals are good carb grains full of fiber and other things from which your body benefits.
  

i'm a convert to hot cereal. my husband got me hooked - his mother fed all nine members of their family hot cereal for just pennies each morning when he was growing up. so for the sake of nostalgia, our pocketbooks and our health, let's start our day with sense for cents with hot cereal.

for cooking instructions on bulk-type hot cereals, simply search "how to cook cracked wheat", etc. on google... don't you love google?