I am not a vegetarian, but I really don’t care much for meat. I will eat chicken or ground beef a few times a week, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me if I go all veggie, all the time for a while.

Lately, it’s been so freaking hot where I live (hello, summer) that I don’t even want to turn on the stove for 30 seconds, let alone the oven. Remembering an awesome avocado and egg sandwich that I once had at a New York City deli, I devised this AMAZING veggie wrap.

You need: one wrap tortilla, half a fresh avocado, half a small tomato, one hard-boiled egg, one carrot, a couple tablespoons of cheese (type is up to you), a tiny bit of Miracle Whip, a tiny bit of pesto sauce, a tiny bit of honey mustard, and sprinkles of salt and pepper. Read More »

This happens to me all the time: I want to eat a nice, healthy salad, I really do—but I crave sugar instead. Usually, I end up eating a square of chocolate instead of a bowl of Romaine.

But now I’ve found the perfect solution: sweet spinach salad!

This takes less than five minutes to make, and it’s DELICIOUS. I feel like I am eating a dessert salad whenever I make it, no joke. All you need is some spinach, a few strawberries, a dab of honey, and a squirt of lemon juice.

Easy process: slice the strawberries and cut off the tops. Rinse the spinach and chop or tear it into smaller pieces. Toss the spinach and the strawberries in a bowl, and poke them for a few seconds to combine them.

Now for the fun part: squirt the lemon juice (I use about half a teaspoon) over the salad, then drizzle the honey over it. Mix everything up with your fork, and that’s IT! Dig in and enjoy… it’s the perfect side for a warm, summery day.

I’ve been living on my own for a while now, and I miss some things about home. My dog…cable TV…hanging out with my parents while not paying rent…oh, yeah, and home cooking.

You might think a salad can’t justifiably be called “cooking,” but I’d have to disagree. This salad isn’t just thrown together…it’s lovingly crafted using carefully chosen ingredients that are fresh, yummy, and healthy.

My mom thought up the specific combination, so I have to give her the credit. And okay, even though this salad isn’t figuratively thrown together, it CAN be literally thrown together, which is a great part of its appeal.

Lunch in 5 minutes or less? Yes, thank you. Read More »

I love Chicken Pot Pie. If it’s at all possible for words to have a taste, home tastes like creamy chicken and pie crust.

Chicken Pot Pie gets a bad rap for being kind of time consuming but there are some very easy short cuts to take to go from unpacking groceries to hot and ready pot pie in less than 50 minutes (45 if you’re a good chopper).

Ingredients:
1 Medium Yellow Onion
3 Carrots
3 Celery Stalks
1 Cup of Frozen Peas
1 TB Butter
1 Store-Bought Rotisserie Chicken
2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup (10 3/4 oz. Use A Name Brand)
1 Cup of Milk
1 Box of Roll-Out Pie Crusts
1 Egg

Directions Read More »

I’m probably one of the hardest gals to please when it comes down to what’s for lunch.

I love flavor, I need my food to be moderately healthy, not too expensive, and easy to make. I do love cooking elaborate meals, but not in the middle of the day when I’m consumed with everything else I’m doing.

So over time, a few simple lunches have worked their way into my mental cookbook, simple lunches that I’m now going to share with you! Here are four options that are delicious, easy, and relatively cheap to make, as well as healthy for you…well, healthier than Wendy’s…that’s for sure.

1. Toast whole wheat bread. Spread your favorite hummus across both pieces of the bread (I prefer using the really spicy stuff). Then add turkey or your favorite lunch meat.

2. Stuff a whole wheat wrap with avocado slices, tomato slices, and mozzarella cheese. This is AWESOME, trust me! Read More »

I’ve been told that I make the sweetest burritos ever. And of course my taste buds are biased…but I have to admit…my burritos are my favorite…and I think they’re pretty sweet, too.

My type of Mexican feast definitely has a taste that is a bit different from your normal greasy burrito. So here’s the secret:

You’ll need:

1 box of Mexican Rice (with seasoning)
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 jalapano pepper
1 jar of hot salsa
1 bag of cheddar cheese
1 tomato
1 can of black beans
Whatever meat you prefer, if you want.
Tortillas

Start to boil the water for the rice while you chop the peppers and the tomato. Begin to stir fry the peppers and tomatoes and put the rice in the boiled water. If you’ve got meat; throw it in with the stir fry. Read More »

Days as a Freshman: 69
Mood: nervous

“We’ve got a few minutes before class is over, if anyone has any questions about anything…” Professor Mullen looked around the room, taking her glasses off her face and leaning against the board.

English 205 was one of the harder Freshman English classes, but word of mouth had made it one of the most popular, especially with guys. Professor Mullen was around 35, tall, blond, and aggressively smart. She had a good sense of humor but wasn’t afraid to put people in her place, and most guys had a thing for being “reprimanded by Ms. Mullen”.

“What about the soccer scandal?” A girl in the front of the class raised her hand, a bunch of pink bracelets clanking together on her arm. “Don’t you think the school should be doing more to find out what really happened?”

People who had been dozing during the lecture suddenly perked up, and my notebook doodling grinded to a halt. Next to me, Rebecca stiffened, and I could feel her eyes slide over to my face. Read More »

Having a tough day? Stressed about that impending Calculus midterm? Still freaking out about that horribly embarrassing drunk dial fiasco this past weekend?

Grab a sandwich from the cafeteria and check out the “History of the Drunk Dial”!
You’re not alone!

Days as a Freshman: 50
Mood: Nervous

“Grace! Hey, come here! Have you heard?”

Sitting down next to Crystal and Naima, I set my plate of salad, tuna, and french fries on the table and pretended that I hadn’t eaten the same thing yesterday, the day before, and the day before that.

“I thought maybe you would have heard something…” Naima stirred her bowl of chocolate ice cream and chocolate sprinkles forcefully, whipping the whole thing into a soupy mess. Somehow, Naima could eat ice cream with every meal and never gain a stray pound.

“Heard what?” I looked down at my water glass before taking a swallow. Inspecting before drinking became a habit after finding a stray piece of someone else’s hair a few weeks before.

“The whole soccer team thing, idiot!” Crystal looked at me like I had two heads, and both of them were being stupid. “Last night, at their Thirsy Thursday party? People are saying a girl was assaulted.”

I stopped eating, my fork poised with nowhere to go. “At the soccer house?”

“Who knows what’s really true,” her appetite still in tact, Naima scooped a watery glob of ice cream into her mouth before continuing, “but people are totally talking about how this freshman maybe got rufied and woke up naked in one of the guys’s beds.” Read More »