Made that BBQ pork last night that I've posted about before - should be good for more than a few lunches, and at $10 for the pork, rolls, and BBQ sauce you can't go wrong! I also made some baked ziti last night, which is really easy and cheap to make - so I'll write about that today!

Easy Baked Ziti:

What you need to buy if you don't have on hand:

1 Box of Ziti

1 small container of Ricotta cheese (lowfat if you want to save calories, do not get fat free- it tastes pretty bad!)

1 Jar of Pasta Sauce (get the most natural you can find - without added oil, etc. Not only will this save on calories and fat, but I think they taste better since they aren't as processed).

1 Fist sized chunch of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into thin slices (yes you can use processed and it will be fine as well)

1 small block fresh parmesean cheese, grated (you can use the dry parmesean as well - it will be fine)

Couple of teaspoons of dried Oregano, Basil, and Parsley

Couple of teasons of Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper

Few teaspoons of Olive Oil

Optional - 2 Medium Tomatoes, chopped

A few sprigs of fresh basil, chopped

Steps:

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2) Cook Ziti in boiling salted water for 8-10 mins

3) Combine Ricotta, parmesean, pasta sauce, dried herbs & salt and pepper in large bowl - mix well (you can add 2/3 of the fresh basil here as well)

4) Drain Pasta, trasnfer to bowl - mix well.

5) Pour mix into a good sized baking pan, spead out evenly

6) Layer fresh tomatoes and the rest of the fresh basil on top (if you are using these)

7) Layer Mozzarella cheese on top, if using fresh mozzarella sprinkle some Olive Oil over top. Crack some pepper over top as well.

8) Cook for 15-20 mins, or until cheese starts to brown and bubble.

That's it!

Pretty easy, fast, and cheap - plus it will last two people at least 3-4 meals, or one person most of the week! You will probably be sick of ziti by the end, but you can't complain when you're on a budget, and it's not like you are eating Rama noodles!

Have a holiday party tonight at my apartment- doing a grab bag and the whole bit. Can't wait to start drinking and hanging out - this week has been slow and painful, I had more tooth work done and some minor surgery... ugh.

Don't have time right now to post the receipes I made, but I will be doing so soon!

Oh - My younger brother just called (20 years old) - he just got engaged! I am shocked...

Well the holidays are coming up, and I've found that I've been too busy to cook anything really interesting, but even so I don't order out if I can help it (one exception is when I am in the mood for chinese food- I never seem to have the proper ingredients, and buying all the exotic sauces, etc for your meal can get expensive unless you eat it often).

Lets see if I can remember what was pretty good that I made...

One thing was really simple, and tasted pretty good too!

Feta and Tomato on Flatbread:

This is pretty much just what it says up there - You buy some Feta cheese, cut some tomatoes up, and buy some flat breat from the store.

Fire up your broiler (I used my toaster ovens broiler), put the tomatoes on the bread, add the feta, sprinkle some olive oil on top - and add some salt and fresh pepper. Cook until cheese is melted, and things look done. That's it!

You can also just leave out the bread and just do this with tomatoes - still tastes great and makes a great side dish.


Beef Braccioli:

This is something I am making myself tonight - so if it doesn't turn out well I will post about it. Beef Braccioli is pretty much just really thin steak (flank steak I think). It was pretty cheap- at about $4.20 for two nice sized steaks. It's the first time I ever have seen it in my store, but you can make it on your own by buying flank steak and pounding it thin (see notes on pounding steak below).

I got this idea from Alton Brown's show Good Eats. You basically just take your flattened steak, sprinkle some canola oil on, add some salt and pepper.

Take a very very hot frying pan (cast iron skillets work great as they hold their heat better) and add the steak, one min per side. Alton likes to flip over the hot skillet (so you cook on the bottom flat side) so it is easier to flip the meat.

Thats pretty much it! You can add some parmesian cheese, or some butter (or herbed butter) on top- serve with a side salad. Keep it simple- it's an easy meal that tastes great!


Steak pounding notes - again I learned this from Alton Brown...

Take your steak, put it between two sheets of plastic wrap that have been sprayed with a little water (keep the meat sliding instead of tearing). Spray meat with a little water as well, and once you fold over the top plastic sheet, spreay top with some water. Take a meat pounder (the OXO meat pounder was recommended), and using moderate force pound out meat while pressing out ward once the mallet hits the steak. This distributes the force of the hits, and causes the meat to spread out more evenly and not tear!

Well its been a while since I posted- basically because I didn't really make anything new recently. The other night I made my baked chicken dish (which I have posted about) with Mashed Sweet potatoes (also posted about), and Leeks (which I have not).

The Leeks went really well with the potatoes and chicken- basically all you have to do is cook the leeks over med heat until nice and soft. I use about 2 Tbl Olive oil and 2 Tbl spoons butter per 2-3 leeks. Make sure you clean the leeks well! Lots of dirt can get trapped down the leaves - so really rinse well and try to get down into the leaves!

Well its been a while since I posted- basically because I didn't really make anything new recently. The other night I made my baked chicken dish (which I have posted about) with Mashed Sweet potatoes (also posted about), and Leeks (which I have not).

The Leeks went really well with the potatoes and chicken- basically all you have to do is cook the leeks over med heat until nice and soft. I use about 2 Tbl Olive oil and 2 Tbl spoons butter per 2-3 leeks. Make sure you clean the leeks well! Lots of dirt can get trapped down the leaves - so really rinse well and try to get down into the leaves!