Meatless Gravy (For Bisciuts)

Meat is expensive. This little invention is to have a cheap version of biscuits and gravy. It's not the same, but it's pretty good I think.


1/2 Cup self-rising flour (see substitutions in the back to use regular flour)
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 Cups Milk
1/4 tsp sage
1 Tbsp beef bullion

Heat up vegetable oil for about three minutes (on medium heat) in a non-stick saucepan. Add one tablespoon of flour at a time, browning each tablespoon before adding the next. Reduce heat to low, and add the sage and bullion. Add milk a half cup at a time. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until thickened. Serve over biscuits.

Pasta Salad

Okay, so this may not be the most exciting meal in life, but it's cheap, it makes a lot, and it doesn't go bad quickly. When I make pasta salad, I eat it all week long, but I only eat it every other meal. If I eat it too much, I get sick of it too quickly, but I've found that if I only eat it every other meal, I can finish it.

1 Bag of curly noodles
1 Bottle of Italian dressing
Cubed cheese
Cooked and cut chicken or ham
Sliced olives
Broccoli
Cucumber
Bell peppers
Any other vegetables you have on hand or feel like adding

Cook and drain the pasta. Cut up all the vegetables, meat, and cheese. Mix everything in a big bowl and toss with dressing. You can serve immediately or refrigerate before serving. I like it best served cold.

Enchiladas or Enchilada Casserole

Super easy and delicious. When I'm lazy, I just make this casserole style, and when I'm feeding other people, I actually make regular enchiladas.

Tortillas (corn or flour work)
Enchilada Sauce
Refried beans
Cooked chicken (Optional)
Cheese

For the casserole: spread half of the tortillas with beans and sprinkle cheese on top. Add some chicken to each tortilla, then top off with a second tortilla. Put a little sauce in the bottom of a glass pan, and then layer in the tortillas. Pour on the rest of the enchilada sauce, and top with cheese.
For regular Enchiladas: spread each tortilla with beans, and sprinkle with cheese. Add chicken. Roll up. Put a little sauce in the bottom of a glass pan, and lay in the tortilla wraps with the edges down so they don't unroll. Pour on the rest of the enchilada sauce, and top with cheese.
For both: Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve hot.

Corn Tortillas

These are deceptively tricky. I thought that since by now I'm pretty much pro at making flour tortillas that corn tortillas should be easy. I was wrong. They were fairly cheap and simple, and they had a really good flavor, but it is definitely something that takes practice.

Waxed paper (yes, it is necessary--I promise)

2 Cups masa harina (corn flour stuff)

1 1/2 cups water (I'm thinking adding more water would make it easier, but until I make them again, we'll stick with this.)

Mix the masa harina and the water until it forms a dough. Knead the dough a little. (You need to make sure to keep the dough moist, so I recommend having a towel on hand to cover the bowl when you're not using it.) Form a small ball of dough (1 1/2 inch diameter) and then start to flatten with the palms of your hands. Place the dough on a piece of waxed paper, and then place another piece of waxed paper on top of it. Squish it a little flatter. (This is where it gets tricky--the dough doesn't have gluten in it, so instead of stretching, it cracks if you're not careful.) Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out flat. Remove the top piece of waxed paper. Turn the bottom piece of waxed paper upside down, resting the tortilla on your hand, and slowly peel off. Cook on a griddle or in a greased frying pan about 1 minute on each side, or until the color has changed--it will look cooked, and air pockets may form. 

Enchilada Sauce

Okay, so I was craving something spicy, and this is what came into my mind. I found a few recipes on the internet and combined the ingredients that I liked, while keeping the basic proportions the same. This turned out really delicious, and it was super easy.

1/4 Cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/4 Cups water
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion salt
1 tsp garlic powder (I actually used 2 cloves of fresh garlic since I had some on hand)
salt to taste

Heat up the oil in a skillet (I just used a saucepan) over medium-high. Stir in flour and chili powder and reduce heat to medium. Stir constantly until flour is browned slightly. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cook for approximately ten minutes, or until it thickens slightly.

Maple Syrup

This recipe is the greatest because it's just proportions. It only takes about ten minutes, and it's delicious. You can double, triple, or quadruple this recipe as many times as you want.

1 Cup white sugar
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup water
1 cap-ful of mapeline flavoring

In a saucepan, combine the white sugar, brown sugar, and water. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add mapeline flavoring. This is best served hot, but you can store it in the refrigerator for a long time. Sometimes it crystallizes, but heating it up will usually melt the crystals.

Black Beans at the Center

Okay, so over the last several days I've posted some related recipes. Here's how I used them over a week:

Day 1:

• Make cheddar'n'bacon muffins (the reason I chose this was so that I could split the bacon between the muffins and the beans)
• Make black beans
• Make tortillas and have a quesadilla for lunch
• Bean soup for dinner

Day 2:

• Breakfast for the next several days was cheddar'n'bacon muffins (I stored most in the fridge, but some in the freezer to see how they would turn out, and if you warm them in the microwave for 20 seconds, they are fantastic)
• Make Costa Vida-style crock pot chicken
• Black beans with rice for lunch (served with chips and veggies or fruit)
• Dinner is simplified Costa Vida--chicken on rice and beans with lettuce in a tortilla

Day 3:

• Lunch is a green salad with leftover chicken in it (I used Italian dressing to match the flavor of the chicken)
• For dinner, I fried the beans up and had fruit (and I ended up with lots of leftovers)

Day 4:

• Lunch for today was a black bean burrito
• For dinner I had nachos supreme (corn chips smothered with beans, sour cream, salsa, cheese, and misc. veggies (tomatoes, avocados, peppers, etc.))

Day 5:

• Today was leftover day. I still had some chicken left and some veggies, so I had an amazing quesadilla, and for dinner a burrito.