Recipes I Like

I live with four other hungry college students. I've been cooking for them (and friends that occasionally join us) about once a week. Here are some of my favorite recipes, along with some of my personal notes.

Swiss Chicken Casserole

Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Swiss-Chicken-Casserole-II/Detail.aspx?evt19=1

I bumped the serving size up to 10. This, along with a side of steamed vegetables, made the perfect amount for a 9-person dinner party. Instead of using cream of chicken soup, I used cream of mushroom soup with garlic. That substitution added a great additional flavor to the dish. With the increased serving size of 10, it took about 75 minutes to bake and probably could have stayed in the oven a little longer.

Side of carrots and broccoli

This went perfectly with the chicken casserole above for a 9-person dinner party. Beware: it takes quite a while to steam enough vegetables for that many people.

I started by boiling a bot of water and putting a colander above it. This is where I put each round of vegetables after they had been steamed to keep them warm until I was ready to serve the meal. (I know this isn't a conventional use for a colander, but it worked great!) Then I put as many vegetables (baby carrots and broccoli) as I could in a steamer and steamed them for 12 minutes. After steaming, I dumped them into the colander that was above the boiling pot of water. I think I did this 5 times before I had enough.

After all the vegetables were steamed, I dumped them from the colander into a bowl, sprinkled in some freshly ground salt and pepper, and drizzled melted butter into the bowl. Delicious.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/09/cajun-chicken-pasta/

This one was amazing. However, the serving sizes were totally off. To feed four people, I had to use two chicken breasts and a pound of pasta. I couldn't find fettuccine at the store so I substituted linguini, which was fine. I also used a bit more spices than called for to balance out the increased chicken and pasta. I didn't have cayenne pepper, so I used a teaspoon of crushed red pepper. That gave the dish a nice spicy aftertaste that wasn't too overwhelming.

Turkey and Spinach Pasta Bake

Recipe: http://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/11/turkey-spinach-pasta-bake/

I don't have much to say about this one, other than the fact that it was yummy.

Skillet Ground Beef Stew

Recipe: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/skillet-ground-beef-stew/1fc970ea-5bff-4270-89d1-eff133c4214c

This recipe is the perfect amount for 3 people. Very filling and satisfying.

Pot Roast

I make one of these every week for all 5 of us.

I generally get about 3.5 pounds of stew meat (chuck works great) and throw it in a crock pot. Then chop up 3 carrots, 4 potatoes, half a large onion, 8 mushrooms, and throw that all in the pot. Mix 2.5 teaspoons of pot roast seasoning with 1.5 cups of water and pour into the crock pot. I usually cook on high heat for 2 hours, followed by low heat for 4 hours. This allows me to start cooking the roast at noon and have it ready by 6pm.

The great thing about this is that it can stay warm in the crock pot until everyone comes home to eat dinner.

Lunch salad

This is my go-to lunch. I add arbitrary amounts of the following to a bowl.

• Chicken breast (which I cooks on the stove while I'm making the rest of the salad.
• Spring mix
• Slided mangos
• Slivered almonds
• Flax seeds
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Cucumbers (only occasionally, because they go bad so damn fast)
• Vinaigrette dressing

Mix and eat. Yum.