On A Budget? 5 Ways to Eat Ramen for Dinner

Times are tight, budgets are pinched. We had two dollars left in our food budget on Tuesday of last week, so I buzzed to the store and bought the only thing I could think of.  Ramen. At 17 cents a package, ramen has to be the best food deal out there. And, it’s a fun deal, too. Because a packet of ramen isn’t just soup waiting to be made. It’s actually a blank canvas ready to be turned into art. Here are 10 super-simple ways to pimp out your ramen and make it into a simple, satisfying dinner.

1. Veggie Ramen (pictured above) . Toss a tablespoon of butter into a skillet. Add 2 tablespoons each of thinly-sliced carrots, frozen green beans, frozen white corn, and edamame. Cook just until softened. Add a packet of Pork Ramen, 2 cups of water, and cook until the noodles are cooked through, about 6 minutes. Add seasoning packet. Serve and enjoy.

Strawberry-Chocolate Cake

Here's an easy-to-make layer cake that will appear as though it required hours of time. Using a boxed cake mix, ready-made frosting, and premade whipped topping takes all of the work out of the preparation. Reminiscent of a chocolate-covered strawberry, this appealing cake recipe is a good choice when you want an eye-catching dessert with minimal effort.

ingredients

• 1 package 2-layer-size strawberry cake mix
• 1 cup canned chocolate frosting
• 1 8-ounce container frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Strawberries

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch or two 9-inch round baking pans; set aside. Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Divide batter between pans. Bake according to package directions. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans. Cool completely.
2. Spread 2/3 cup of the frosting on one of the layers. Top with remaining cake layer. Frost top and side of cake layers with dessert topping. If desired, in a small bowl stir together remaining 1/3 cup frosting and milk. Drizzle over frosted cake. Decorate top of cake with whole or sliced berries. Makes 12 servings

We-All-Scream-For-Ice-Cream Cake

This cake design is a fun project to do with the kids. The ice cream cake is not actually made with any ice cream; it will just look like an ice cream cone when it is put together. Using a box cake mix and canned frosting, this is an easy cake recipe to make and the kids will have a great time using their imaginations to decorate the individual cupcakes. Learn how to make a real ice cream cake

ingredients

• 1 package 2-layer-size desired flavor cake mix
• 2 16-ounce cans creamy white frosting*
• 1 16-ounce can chocolate frosting*
• Buttercup-yellow paste food coloring
• Red food coloring
• Strawberry preserves and/or chocolate ice cream topping
• Chopped nuts, colored sprinkles, miniature chocolate pieces, and/or maraschino cherries

Beef and Sweet Pepper Pasta

ingredients

• 1 recipe Mealmaker Meatballs (see recipe below)
• 8 ounces dried pappardelle pasta or fettuccine
• 1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into thin, bite-sized strips
• 1 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots, thinly bias-sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil
• 1 26-ounce jar spicy red pepper pasta sauce or mushroom and ripe olive pasta sauce
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 4 ounces Italian fontina or mozzarella cheese, shredded (1 cup)
• 2 ounces Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely shredded (1/2 cup)

Lemon-Roasted Potatoes

 

yield: Makes 16 servings

active time: 25 minutes

total time: 25 minutes

The anchovy butter would also be terrific on steak or steamed green beans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 to 3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• Coarse kosher salt
• 16 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices baguette
• 10 radishes (such as French Breakfast), trimmed, thinly sliced on diagonal
• Additional chopped fresh chives (for garnish)

Chicken Parmesan Burgers That The Whole Family Will Love!

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

yield: Makes 4 servings
active time: 35 minutes
total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
10 1/2-inch-thick slices French bread (4 inches in diameter); 8 slices toasted, 2 slices (crust removed) diced
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons minced fresh basil, divided, plus 12 large basil leaves
3/4 cup purchased refrigerated marinara sauce
12 ounces ground chicken (white meat)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon grated onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces whole-milk mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
4 large radicchio leaves

Caramelized Honey Dijon Chicken.

I love it so much that I just showed you a bowl full of mustard. The things we do for love…


And I know I’ve kind of worn out chicken’s welcome this week. I don’t know what got in to me.

With Mr. How Sweet still recuperating, I think I was trying to cheer him up with multiple chicken dishes. Because honestly, he has driven me insane the last 14 days from his prison on the couch. In a loving way… of course.


Thank goodness he is back up and running.

Do you know the secret to perfectly golden chicken? You just need to make sure it is dry! It’s that easy. It’s so simple that I’m practically embarrassed to share.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry and Pink Velvet Cake Truffles.

And I’ve had dyed fingers all week to prove it. Contrary to what Mr. How Sweet believes, I do shower. Sometimes.


This is a two-for-one recipe, as I made two different batches of cake balls but threw them together for Valentines’ Day sake.
My favorite are the strawberry cake balls covered in milk chocolate, but I also made some vanilla cake balls with a tiny bit of pink food coloring for Mr. How Sweet.

I know this question is coming, so I do not recommend straying from the boxed cake mix unless you are a seasoned baker. By using a boxed mix, I know that every single time I make the cake balls, they will turn out. And I know that every single time, I will only need 1 1/2 cups of my own frosting, or 1 can of prepared frosting. While this is super easy, it is a lot of “busy” work – prepare the cake, bake the cake, crumble the cake, refrigerate, roll the balls, refrigerate again, dip in chocolate, decorate, refrigerate…

Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies.

I really consider these an anytime treat, but they work for tonight too! Or tomorrow. Or Monday. Or next week. Or everyday.


The dough is impossible to stay out of. Up your raw egg tolerance for this.

See? Impossible.

Scooping out golf ball sized dough balls is the best way to go.

S’mores Pie.

And it just may be one of the best desserts I’ve ever made.


You might remember that last year I whipped up some mini s’mores tarts. They were fabulous, but I must have had a few screws loose. Why didn’t I just make an entire pie?

Oh! I remember why. Because my husband doesn’t like s’mores. He’s apparently from another planet. Can’t he just sacrifice his taste buds for my favorite flavor combination?
I guess not.

Cake Batter Crispy Treats.

In case you didn’t know, today is the Daytona 500. I didn’t know this for 24 years. But now that I have Mr. How Sweet in my life, he will never let me forget it. It will most likely be his best day of 2011… depending on who wins of course.

He’s been glued to the TV all weekend, watching and re-watching every possible NASCAR special known to man. I even think some tears were shed. But you didn’t hear that from me.

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Frosting.

Like, it seems as if it has taken me forever to perfect it.
Note the dramatic-ness. Mr. How Sweet says I’m too dramatic. I can’t not share my dramaticness with you.


I’ve been attempting to make a red velvet brownie from scratch for months. It is quite the feat since red velvet isn’t technically “just chocolate” and isn’t just a chocolate cookie, cake or cupcake dyed red. True red velvet connoisseurs know that red velvet treats have just the slightest hint of cocoa. That’s what I finally mastered – a chewy, dense brownie with a hint of chocolate!

I adapted my oooey, gooey brownie recipe (also used for brownie cupcakes) for red velvet success – after about 30 failed attempts. And I added chocolate chips because, well… I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t add additional chocolate and calories.

Cake Batter Cinnamon Rolls

I clearly made two.

I think this is the end of the cake batter era. Unless I come up with something even more ridiculous to create with a cake batter flavor, I’m pretty cake battered out.

Double Fudge Irish Cream Cookies.

What better way to celebrate my Irish heritage than with a little chocolate and irish cream?

In cookie form of course.

With a beverage on the side.

Crispy Shrimp Tacos.

And it includes fresh fruit and vegetables, seafood and avocado. Can’t go wrong there, right?
Especially if your shrimp is already clean – this meal should take you less than 20 minutes to throw together.


I was so excited when I found mangos at my grocery store on sale this week: 10 for $10! Are mangos in season? I have no idea. But I found a squishy, soft one (in my experience those are the best) and also bought a firmer one which I am sure will die in the crisper drawer.


I’ll probably find it in May.

I knew exactly what was happening to one mango though. It was perfectly ripe and I quickly chopped it with some red onion and tomato – easy, fresh salsa right there.

HUMMUS PIZZA

Hummus Pizza on a Curry Infused Crust

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough:

• Homemade Curry infused pizza dough (use same recipe here but add in 1 tbsp good quality curry powder. Omit the other pizza herbs too.)

Fruit Pizza

Avocado-Lime Whip Fruit Medley Pizza in a Sugar Cinnamon Crust

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough:

• Homemade Cinnamon Sugar pizza dough (use same recipe here but use 2 tbsp sugar and 1.5 tsp cinnamon. Also sprinkle the entire crust before baking with turbinado sugar)

Avocado-Lime Whip:

• 4 avocados
• Fresh lime juice from half a lime (approx 1 tsp)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 2-3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1-2 tbsp coconut milk
• 12 tbsp icing sugar (confectioner’s)

Directions: In a food processor, add in the avocado, lime juice, and agave. Process until smooth. Now add in the vanilla, melted coconut oil, and coconut milk. As the last step, add in the icing sugar very gradually until the consistency you want is achieved. Cool in fridge for about 30 minutes before using. Spread over the base of cooled & cooked pizza crust.
Fruit Medley:

• Fruit salsa: Chop up a mixture of strawberries, mandarin oranges, mango, kiwi, and raspberries. Add in blueberries too. You will want about 2-3 cups of the salsa.
• Fruit layer: Mandarin, strawberries (sliced), blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi (sliced), mango (sliced), and whatever else your little heart desires! Peach would be good too.

Directions: After you have spread on the avocado-lime whip, it is time to layer on the fruit. I started with an outer layer of fruit salsa, followed by a layer of sliced fruit. After those two layers, I did a very small layer of sprinkled coconut, followed by a layer of raspberries, and then finally fruit salsa. I left the inner circle open as I was going to put a large strawberry there, but then we ate it and that was that.

Eric and I both LOVED this dessert pizza! Definite winner. I loved the avocado-lime whip too. It was a really unique way to change up the traditional cream cheese base. It was addicting and refreshing and I couldn’t stop eating it.

4 Ingredient Dark Chocolate Almond Butter

Chocolate.
I find myself desperate in the kitchen, thinking of a new way to get my chocolate fix, when idea after idea pops into my mind. I’m convinced this is an adaptive female instinct that has allowed us to survive during times of hormonal temper tantrums.

Yesterday, I tried a recipe idea that literally had me running to the kitchen: 4-ingredient homemade dark chocolate almond butter. I wasn’t sure if it would turn out, but I was willing to give it a try. Sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…!

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Whenever I think of egg salad sandwiches, I think of summer. And since I really really want summer right about now, I made Jeff and I these yummy sandwiches for lunch! Thankfully Jeff and I are heading south to Florida in April so won't have to wait too long for some sunshine, but until then...these egg salad sandwiches will keep us smiling. I feel a little bit silly posting a simple sandwich recipe, however one of the most important things I have learned by reading food blogs for hours upon hours a day (oops) is the importance of simplicity. This post isn't necessarily a new or amazing recipve (although it is very good), it is to help you remember that there is more to eat for lunch than turkey & cheese every day! So, if you haven't had yourself an egg sandwich in a while...try this one.

Ingredients: (for 2 sandwiches)

• 5 hard boiled eggs
• 1/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 pieces of toasted bread