Pizza for the Economy Slump

I could buy a pizza for dinner. Or I could get gas. Or pay my electricity bill. Or buy my dog food.

It just seems like $15 is a little steep for a pizza that I won't even finish eating. So...I created a fast and extremely cheap alternative:

Cracker Pizzas.

ingredients (pay attention now... don't want to lose you in the list..)

Saltine Crackers

Pepperoni slices

Cheddar cheese (or mozzarella, provolone, gouda, whatever)

Place two slices of pepperoni on each cracker (I think I used 11, which turned out to be about 2 too many). Cut a small slice of cheese (not bigger than the pepperoni) and set it on top of the cracker.

Put in the oven on 350 until cheese is sufficiently melted.

voila. Cracker Pizza. If you wanna feel like a kid again, drink a Crappy Sun with it.

Chicken Saute for the Sick Soul

It's time (up here in Oregon at least) to break out the jackets, turn on the heaters, and stock up on cold medicine. My roommate is getting over a throat infection/cold, my boss was sick with a cold and everywhere I'm hearing sniffles, coughs, and complaints of a cold. Today I started to feel a little stuffy and got that "impending cold" feeling in my head and throat. I had to act fast. I greeted the morning with a glass of green tea and researched what foods can increase immunity.

After a little research, I settled on the following ingredients:

Chicken - Niacin and Selenium
Spinach - Folate
Bell Peppers - Vitamin C and Pyrodoxine
Garlic - Selenium
Tomatoes - Chromium
Lemon zest and juice - Vitamin C
Jasmine Rice - Selenium
chicken stock/broth
and Turmeric. Click here to learn 20 health benefits of Turmeric.
pepper
parsley
oregano
garlic powder

First I put 3 1/2 cups of chicken stock on to boil.
While that was boiling I chopped up the bell peppers into bite-sized pieces, cut the tomatoes into pieces, and mixed the spinach, bell peppers, and tomatoes together in a large bowl. I used about 3/4 a bunch of spinach, 3 bell peppers, and 3 large roma tomatoes. I seasoned the mixture with ample pepper, some parsley, oregano and plenty of garlic powder.

I then chopped the garlic and placed it in a large, almost wok-style, skillet in which I had drizzled olive oil. Next I cut two large chicken breasts into small pieces and dumped them into the olive oil and garlic. I set it on med-high heat and stirred every 30 seconds or so. I added 1 tsp of turmeric and 2 cups of jasmine rice to the boiling chicken stock. Once the rice started to boil, I lowered the heat to a simmer, covered the pot 3/4 of the way with a lid and let it simmer.

After the chicken was cooked sufficiently (no raw parts showing), I added the tomato, pepper and spinach mixture to the pot and stirred. I poured the excess juice into a smaller pan. Then I scraped lemon zest into the cooking mixture and then squeezed the juice of 2 quarters of a lemon into it. I let this cook and simmer for awhile on the same temperature setting while stirring.












At this time I turned off the heat on the rice and completely covered the dish to let it steam.










Then I added the rest of the lemon's juice and a little white wine to the excess juice in the smaller pan. I set this on high to boil and cook off much of the liquid to create a thick sauce for the rice.














The dish is done! Be sure to drink a big glass of water, as you need plenty of fluids when sick. And for storing, you can just dump the chicken/spinach/tomato/pepper mixture on top of the rice and throw on some press n seal and stick it in the fridge.
















A good dessert might be a bowl of strawberries and a cup of tea (be sure to check for caffeine).
I'm drinking Yogi Tea's Cold Season.



I think I'm feeling better already....