Tamagoyaki Breakfast

I've really been into the whole bento thing lately. For those of you that don't know what that is, its the Japanese version of a lunch box. Instead of bringing a sandwich and chips, you bring healthier food that's good and looks great. (Examples 1 2 3)

One of the common foods found in a bento are tamagoyaki, which means a rolled omelet. I didn't make a tutorial for it, but I found a great one here. Definitely give it a try. I had alot of fun making it. In the tutorial they used 1 egg, but I used 2 with a little milk added into it. I guess you use however many eggs depending on how many people are eating. I used a small pan for making mine. Here are a few picks of my first attempt. I'll also include a mini recipe of the rice I made to go along with it.

Here's a picture of what it looks like as your "rolling" the omelet.

This is the rice I made to go along with it. I just used regular white rice to make it. Cook the rice normally and drain the water. Then sprinkle in some salt and sugar, pour in however much soy sauce you want, and add cilantro. It was very tasty and went well with the tamagoyaki.

Here's my finished product. I added cheese on top of my tamagoyaki with the words "Hello" written with ketchup :)

I cut it into pieces.

Here's what it looks like on the inside. It is literally rolled into layers. I've seen a few variations where people put different veggies or meat into each layer. Have fun with it and enjoy!

Crab Ceviche

Since I was small, I've always loved when my mom make ceviche. It was the best snack and honestly, if you make enough, you can have for dinner or whenever. I've been told that real ceviche uses fish, but I like the way my mom makes it, so I'm going to use her recipe. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures while making this, but honestly its very easy and requires no cooking. It does take a little time since your shredding and cutting all the ingredients yourself. This makes a nice summer treat or meal. Let's get started!

What you need:

-Imitation crab meat
-tomatoes
-purple onions
-bottles lemon (or lime) juice
-salt
-cilantro
-container to put it in
- fried flat corn tortillas (the kind used for tostadas) or even corn tortilla chips

Once you have your container and you've washed all your vegetables, start shredding the crab meat into the container. Cut up the tomatoes, cilantro, and onions and put them into into the container. Once you have your container filled up to your desired level, sprinkle a little salt in and mix everything up. I do this buy putting on the lid to the container, holding on tight and shaking it round. Now take the lid off and poor in the lemon (or lime) juice up to more than half way. Use a spoon and mix everything again. Put the lid back on and let chill in the refrigerator until your ready to eat.

This image doesn't look so tasty, but trust me, its so delicious!

This is the brand i use to eat with ceviche. Or, you can just eat it by itself with a spoon.

You can can use a spoon to put the ceviche on the corn tortilla or you can break them up and use them to scoop it up.

Enjoy!

Potato Stir Fry

So for dinner I decided to have something with an Asian flair. I had some frozen potatoes I got from the 99cent store and some vegetables so I decided to make potato stir fry! It's very easy to make and takes about 10-15 min to cook. Let's get started!

Here is what you need to get started:

-Frozen potatoes (or you can chop up some potatoes if you want)
-Asparagus (I used 3)
-Cilantro (I used 3)
-Slice on onion (I used a purple onion)
-I used Canola Oil, but you can also use cooking spray
-Soy Sauce
-Salt
-Ketchup (optional)

Honestly, just use whatever vegetables you have at hand. These were the ones I had so that's why I'm using them.

After you wash your vegetables off, please make sure to dry them off well. If not, when you start cooking the oil and vegetables will be jumping all over the place!

Start to cut up all your veggies into bite sized pieces.

Go ahead and grease your pan with the oil of cooking spray. Put the heat on a low medium. Then put the asparagus in. If you are using any hard veggies, its good to cook them first sine they take the longest to soften up. Make sure to stir and roll them over occasionally.

After the asparagus has started to soften up, put in the potatoes. Cook until soft. Stir occasionally.

Now I add in the purple onions and cilantro. When the onions get a little soft, I sprinkle in a pinch of salt and soy sauce (to taste). Cook for a few minutes and serve.

Here's mine with a ketchup happy face! I also ate a few slices of block cheese on the side to balance out some of the saltiness. Enjoy!

Sweet Rice Porridge

I woke up early this morning and decided to make some breakfast. Since I haven't been shopping in a while, I really only have rice and decided I'll make rice porridge. The one I made tasted just like oatmeal, so it was a success. This is my first tutorial, so if things aren't clear, please let me know and I'll explain more. Keep in mind that there are many variations you can do. This is just a tutorial on the one I made.

 These are the items I used:

-a pot
-an apple
-rice (white or brown)
-sugar
-milk
-butter
-cinnamon (optional)
-honey (optional)

Start off by preparing your rice. Letting your rice soak is the most important step. It helps the rice become nice and soft while cooking, which is best for porridge. If you don't have time to let it soak before cooking, you can always let it soak the night before you cook it. I let mine soak for about 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, I use my hand to swish the rice around. This helps clean it. Now drain the water. Add more water and cook rice normally.

After the rice is done, let it sit for 10 minutes before draining the water. This helps the rice plump up. Rinse rice off twice.

Now its time to cook! Add in very little water, milk, and butter to the rice. Also add in however much sugar you want, it all depends on your taste. I also add cinnamon and honey to mine. At this stage you can add in any sweeteners you want. I'm sure it would be good with brown sugar. Stir occasionally.

Let it cook for a few minutes (I did it for about 5 min) before you add any fruit or anything else like that. I cut up an apple into small pieces and mixed it in. Let it cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now its ready to serve. I eat mine with a cup of hot chocolate.

Enjoy!

Recipe's for a Poor College Student

As you can tell from the title of this blog, I am a college student and I am very poor. Sad, I know, but this is the way these things are. Grocery stores can be very expensive and that's not good for my wallet (which is very small). I shop for most of my things at the 99cent store and I get only a few items (such as cheese, milk, cereal) from a regular store.

There comes a time when you shop, and you can only get limited items, or when you only have a few items left in your cabinets or refrigerator. That's when you have to start being creative because eating the same exact meal over and over again becomes old fast.

So, that's where this blog comes into play. I want to try to find basic food items that you can buy to make various things. And this isn't just for college students. It's for anyone who has to cook on a budget or who wants to try something new and challenging. It'll be fun, creative, tasty and easy on your wallet! So follow me and let your taste buds have a good time.