As a college student, cooking for one, on a limited budget I've gotten creative with low calorie, cheap, tasty, and diabetic friendly cooking. I thought I'd share. Nothing is gourmet or fancy, but its stuff that chances are you have easy access to or is already in your house or apartment.
5 minute pizza
1 whole wheat pita (about 145 calories)
2 tablespoons spaghetti sauce (varies)
Fat free mozzerella (it's 45 calories for a 1/4 cup, and I don't use near that)
Any toppings, preferably veggies
Preheat toaster oven to 375 degrees. Prepare pita in logical pizza order. Pop it in, in my oven it takes five minutes, but I'm sure it varies. Here, I buy organic pitas for 1.89 for six, cheap, lite canned spaghetti sauce that i season myself for 85 cents a can, and the cheese is about 2.69. So, I figure six pizzas for less then five bucks. It's not pizza hut, but it is cheap and fast.
I'm from the south, and adore peach cobbler in all of it's glory. However, it isn't something I'd make at home because I would eat the whole thing. So, when I get a hankering:
Peaches with Quick Oats
1 serving canned peaches in lite syrup, or 1 serving frozen peaches
cinnamon
nutmeg
splenda
2 tablespoons quick oats
Put peaches in a microwave safe bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, and splenda. I like more then most people, when it comes to cinnamon or nutmeg,so use your own judgement. You can always add more. Nuke until peaches are warm, about 30 seconds for canned, 45 for frozen. Add oats, and microwave for another 25 seconds. Enjoy.
This next one is fairly high in salt, but low in calories and high in fiber. Good of mexican cravings
Meat free taco salad
2 cups iceberg lettuce, for salad
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon sour cream (i use the real stuff since it isn't much)
1 serving of cooked black beans
1 roma tomato
1 teaspoon vegetable oil or light margerine
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
3 slices green pepper
Heat oil in skillet, add beans, jalapeno, onion,and taco seasoning. Slice tomato and green pepper, add to lettuce. When stuff in skillet is hot, add to salad and top with sour cream. You can also add a little bit of chicken to the mix with the black beans, but it is cheaper just to skip it.
That pizza idea is great, I had forgotten how good that is, I lived on pita pizza when I was at Uni. I like red kidney beans on mine.
Another cheap quick dish is a frittata (or Spanish omlette)
I made one tonight, it serves four
8 small new potatoes microwaved for 6 minutes (prick them with a fork first)
one onion thickly sliced
two peppers (I use done red and one yellow)
half a packet of fresh mushrooms
4 lean rashers bacon (optional, leave em out or use a chicken breast)
one tin butter beans (or chick peas or red kidney beans) well drained
two tomatoes diced
6 eggs, beaten with black pepper and some dried herbs
Heat a non stick frying pan with a teaspoon of olive oil
Cook the onions and bacon if using, until well done, add the potatoes, stirring, once starting to brown, add the other veggies (except tomatoes and tinned beans) cook until softening, then add the tomatoes and beans.
Beat your eggs, then stir into the veggies gently, turn the heat down and cook until it looks a little wet on top. Stick it under the griller (broiler) until golden brown.
If you have a nifty frying pan with a detachable handle, or an ovenproof handle you can finish it off in the oven.
I added a tiny bit of cheese to the top this evening.
It's gerat cold, we ate half tonight between the two of us, and will each have the rest for lunch tomorrow.
I actually did the pizza pita thing last night, almost exactly as the OP describes. I used onions, bell peppers, and fresh roma tomato for the toppings.
3 cheap, quick, and easy recipes
