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You Are What You Eat! Delicious Substitutions to Unhealthy Food

You are what you eat

By Rachel Vigoda

When it comes to food, everyone knows the basics: heaps of sugar, empty calories, trans fat -- bad. Lean and green, good. But you don’t have to live on spinach and broccoli to up your energy or lose weight.

“Foods really high in fat, calories or sugar are so hard to process -- it’s like a bomb on your body,” says registered dietician Sarah Lefkowitz. “Fortunately, there are a lot of healthy alternatives. Sure, some are a little ‘out there,’ but there are also foods that are accessible to everyone.”

Instead of….	Check out:	Why:	Make it like this:
Hamburger	Veggie burger	Even beef labeled extra lean has more saturated fat than its vegetarian counterpart.	Skip the greasy cheese and pile on lettuce, tomato, onion and mustard instead.
Soda	Iced herbal tea	Empty calories dampen soda’s fizz.	“Add honey or agave to herbal tea, and it really curbs your sweet teeth. It’s a great alternative to soda,” promises Lefkowitz.
Milk chocolate	Raw chocolate	Chocolate in its raw form is high in antioxidants. “Milk chocolate takes out any of the nutrient value of chocolate,” says Lefkowitz.	Mix cacao powder in a mug with heated milk and a packet of sweetener, like Splenda, for yummy, healthy hot chocolate.
Apple Juice	Apple	Sorry, juice, you’re not as healthy as you look. “Fruit juice has such an intense amount of sugar, you’re really better off just eating the fruit,” Lefkowitz explains.	Slice the apple, then spread on a thin layer of reduced-fat peanut butter.
Potato chips (or Doritos or Cheetos…)	Popcorn	Chips are loaded with salt and saturated fat. On popcorn’s side: whole grains and fiber.	Spray olive oil on air-popped popcorn, then sprinkle on a little salt.

Eat better, feel better

Food affects more than your waistline.

“Depression is an imbalance in your body. When you’re eating, you have to be conscious of keeping your body balanced,” says Sarah Lefkowitz, R.D.

Loading up on caffeine and processed sugars might make it easier to study for an hour or two, but constant highs and lows keep your body out of whack and struggling to balance itself.

“It’s easy to eat crappy, and harder to eat healthy,” admits Lefkowitz. “But what you put in your body -- that’s your life force. It’s your choice whether you hurt yourself or not.”

Get in the mood -- naturally

Want that flushed, red-hot feeling? Eat a chili.

Chili peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical that stimulates nerve endings and increases heart rate and blood flow. They might also trigger the release of mood-lifting endorphins.

But keep in mind that when it comes to fiery chilies, less is more. Try sprinkling crushed chili flakes on a plate of pasta, or nibbling on a chili-infused chocolate truffle.

PHILLY'S BEST DIVE BARS : ENJOY!!

Philly's Best Dive Bars

Written by Eric Horvath

Take the Plunge College Living Ranks Philly’s Top 5 Dive Bars By Eric Horvath     We love lists.  “Top 10 this” and “5 Worst Ways To Do That.”  This whole town loves lists, actually.  Every publications has it’s own variation of a “Best of Philly” list, and each carries its own unique weight and significance within the crowd its constructed for.  This is our best of Philly list…with only one category.  You see, this is the one category that college students can honestly agree is a make-or-break situation for them on any given Friday or Saturday (or hell, Tuesday) night.  We like to think we know where the best ones are, and we’ve always got the inside story or guy on the inside to help us out.  “I got a guy, who knows a guy who told me about this great place with really cheap drinks, unpretentious music, a mechanical bull and ashtrays for seats!” is usually how the conversation starts.  Well folks, here’s how its gonna end.  College Living proudly presents our Top Five Dive Bars.     We made our decisions based on a few criteria: drink price and selection, setting/neighborhood, reputation, clientele and most importantly, hipster quotient.  The last criterion is somewhat tied to reputation, in that the level of hipsters is usually a good indication, one way or another, that a dive bar is either ‘up-and-coming’ or ‘come-and-gone.’  It may seem silly that a few patrons donning tight jeans, ironic t-shirts and fuzzy hats in June could sway a bar’s legitimacy in this list, but it’s a very real situation.  If a bar is infested with hipsters, that means it may be time to move on to a new watering hole, as drink prices tend to rise with the number of fixed gear bikes parked outside.  Without any further stalling, here’s our list.  Raise thy glass and argue away! #5 Locust Bar 235 S 10th St Philadelphia, PA 19107 Phone: (215) 925-2191     Easily one of the top dives in Philly, Locust Bar proudly straddles the line between undiscovered Philly treasure and dive bar gem.  Center City stalwart dives like Dirty Franks and McGlinchy’s could potentially stand in for Locust Bar, but luckily we don’t have to worry about some sort of constitutional dive bar succession taking place.  The Locust Bar is here to stay.  Situated on the corner of 10th and Locust, near Jefferson Hospital, the aptly named Locust Bar serves up the standard middle-class beer alongside more highbrow brews like Flying Fish along with even “regular Joe” bar food, like fried ravioli and waffle fries.     This may be the only thing keeping Locust at #5 on the list.  Also, last year’s smoking ban isn’t worth a damn in this place, so take that for what its worth.  Other than a grim food and drink selection and a White Album overload on the jukebox, the Locust Bar is the perfect place to go after work or class to unwind on the cheap.   The crowd is a good mix off drunk old timers and almost-drunk-but-just-out-of-class-students.  The best deal?  Make your way here on the second Thursday of each month for $2.75 pints of Yards, and make Second Thursday cooler than First Friday. #4 Bonner’s Irish Pub 120 S 23rd St Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 567-5748     Easily the hidden gem of the list, and for good reason, Bonner’s doesn’t yank in the college crowd that much.  Actually, they don’t yank in much of a crowd at all for an Irish Pub in Philly.  You see, to be an Irish Pub in Philly is like belonging to a soap opera family.  Some pubs had plastic surgery and went on to become famous (Kildare’s), some found success as a sort of regional chain (the generically named Irish Pub), and some welcome the ‘popped collar/new haircut/GHB crowd’ (Finnegan’s Wake).     Bonners, set off the west end of Rittenhouse Square, doesn’t subscribe to that trajectory.  As the black sheep of the Philly Irish Pub family, they take a no frills approach, with one room for a bar, and another with scattered tables.  Add in a few dart boards, video games and televisions probably playing The Departed on a loop, and you’ve got Bonners.  With nary a hipster in sight, the bar frequently drinks so cheap, there shouldn’t even be specials.  With a chill atmosphere and cheap drinks, why #4 you ask?  No live music.  While sometimes that’s a good thing, usually we’d like a little more stimuli than Jack Nicholson beating the shit out of people on TV.  That’s just us, though. #3 The P.O.P.E Pub On Passyunk East 1501 East Passyunk Avenue Philadelphia, Pa 19147     With this particular area of South Philly in the redevelopment fast lane, its tough not to recognize a bar like the P.O.P.E, which seems to be at the center of it all.  Literally in the center, perched on a Passyunk corner near Acme, Rita’s Water Ice and every other amenity you could imagine, the P.O.P.E acts as part medieval dungeon (sans Renaissance Fair) and part beer oasis upon walking in.  The dark but not dreary interior is supplemented by a huge bottled beer selection, dotted with many IPA and Belgian selections.  As for the cheapness…there are the old standbys like PBR and the like for reasonable prices, but the P.O.P.E’s devil is in their craft brew prices.  They even have Mississippi Mudd!     Cons?  Well, this brings us back to our nasty hipster quotient.  On any weekend night, you could easily arrive to see this place packed with every bearded indie music lover in town, as the P.O.P.E tends to turn standing room only on these busy nights.  Also, even with their incredible bottled beer selection, the P.O.P.E doesn’t get all culinary on your ass.  While most would expect some more intricate dishes from a place like this, you’re left with standard fried bar food.  We don’t expect highfalutin meals, though.  That’s what keeps this place a dive, and a pretty damn good one at that. Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar 1200 E Passyunk Ave (Corner of Passyunk and Federal Sts.) Philadelphia, PA 19147     Oh, where to begin.  Walk into Ray’s, and you won’t just see the ambiance, you’ll hear, feel and even smell it.  One of the preeminent ‘shot-and-a-beer’ joints in Philly, Ray’s is known for wild karaoke nights and moreover, the red carpet treatment on your birthday.  It really doesn’t get any more laidback than this, with a comfortable bar area, and second room behind the bar for private events or, you know, to just kick back and drink.  Bartenders like Tony keep the cheapest drinks imaginable (regular priced, anyway) flowing while surrounded by walls of historic pictures from other eras.     Nestled right behind Pats and Geno’s, the cheese steak casino/Mecca of the universe, Ray’s has gone from a cliché neighborhood bar into a dive phenomenon and must try for Philly visitors, and back again to its comfortable perch as a great place to enjoy a few laughs and a lot more beers.  The whole time, neither the bar nor its staff has changed one bit.  The beers are tastier, the shots are just a little stronger, and the karaoke is just a little, well, stop by and sing Sweet Caroline to see for yourself.  As soon as you walk in, you’re a regular.  Sweeeeet Caroline!  Ba ba ba! #1 Sugar Mom’s 225 Church St. Philadelphia, Pa 19106     Sugar Mom’s hit all the criteria on our list, and then some.  Conveniently hidden in Old City, among Stephen Starr goliaths like Continental and posh haunts like Buddakhan and Red Sky, Sugar Mom’s is, the put it bluntly, the shit.  If you can find it, on its Church Street hiding place, you’re in luck.  Enter the front door and descend the stairs into the dark, dank basement and you’ll be transported back to the illicit affairs of your misspent youth.  That is, if your youth was misspent boozing in the basement of a rodeo clown packing a fully stocked bar, pool and fooseball tables, dated lush furniture and, are you serious, a cigarette machine?!  Seriously though, this place is a diver’s paradise any day of the week.  Weekends tend to bring out the crazies, where Mom’s features the “Mom’s Bomb,” a “Jager-Bomb” type mixture of Southern Comfort or Jagermeister with Mountain Dew instead of Red Bull.     Weekend nights not your bag?  Mom’s has you covered, with not a window in sight downstairs, you can hide your hungover ass from all sunlight while drinking yourself back into oblivion.  $1.00 (!) PBR 16 ouncers will juice you through the day and into the night.  Weeknights you ask?  How about 25 cent pierogie Wednesdays?  We can keep going here, which is the ultimate demonstration of a champion dive bar: regular quality food and drink, on the cheap, with a solid atmosphere.  That’s all you can ask for from a dive bar, and we’re proud to say that Sugar Mom’s is THE #1 dive bar on our list.

PHILLY AND DC's BEST ETHNIC RESTAURANTS ; CHECK EM' OUT!

Our Picks for the Best Ethnic Restaurants Philly and D.C. Have To Offer

Written by Mark Sellers

PHILADELPHIA Manila Bay 6724 Castor Ave. 215-722-7877 www.manila-bay.com Manila Bay, one of only two Filipino restaurants in the city (the other, Old City's Cebu, is owned by the same people), can provide a great introduction to the native foods of the archipelago. Traditional dishes include kare-kare, tender oxtail in a sweet peanut butter sauce; adobo, pork in a garlicky, vinegary sauce; or crispy pata, fatty, deep-fried pork's feet served with a tangy vinaigrette sauce. The service is warm and accommodating, there's a liquor license and live entertainment, and best of all, most dishes run under $10. Dahlak 4708 Baltimore Ave. 215-726-6464 www.dahlakrestaurant.com Dahlak specializes in dishes from the neighboring African nations of Ethiopia and Eritrea. One of the most important aspects of the cuisine is injera, a spongy bread served with every meal - it's used as both a utensil (rip some off and scoop up your grub) and a platter (dishes are served atop an injera plate). Don't miss dishes like dulet, spicy chopped beef liver and tripe (it's served on the rare side); kinche, a vegetarian dish of crushed wheat flavored with rich clarified butter; and yebeg tibs, savory cubes of lamb cooked with an assortment of vegetables and spices. Rangoon 119 N. 9th St. 215-829-8939 www.phillychinatown.com/rangoon.htm Located in the heart of Philly's Chinatown district, Rangoon is the only Burmese restaurant in the city, but that doesn't mean they slack on quality. Don't miss the Northern Burma fried noodle entree, noodles, shrimp, chicken, scallions, bean sprouts and spices stir-fried to perfection; or the spicy mango shrimp, served with bell peppers, fresh mango and a mango sauce. Their most famous dish is Thousand Layer Bread, a wad of crispy crepe dough served with a kickin' potato curry for dipping. New Delhi 4004 Chestnut St. 215-386-1941 www.newdelhiweb.com New Delhi's is one of Philly's longest-running restaurants, and quite simply, it rules. We'll spare you the décor details (take our word for it, it's nice) and skip right to the food: Menu highlights include lamb rogan josh (lamb in a savory, not-too-spicy sauce), chicken vindaloo (premium chicken doused in a fiery red sauce) and tandoori shrimp (flavored with herbs and spices and cooked to smoky perfection in the tandoor, an Indian charcoal oven). Las Bugambilias 148 South St. 215-922-3190 Las Bugambilias is a beautiful little restaurant specializing in fresh and fanciful south-of-the-border cuisine. Chef/owner Carlos Molina's specialties include traditional tortilla soup, a savory combo of Mexican peppers, crunchy tortilla strips, chicken, cheese and avocado; and his sumptuous bistec tampiquena, tender strips of skirt steak wrapped around a grilled poblano pepper stuffed with salty Chihuahua cheese. Added bonus: Their margaritas are strong. WASHINGTON, D.C. 4912 4912 Wisconsin Ave. NW 202-966-4696 www.4912thaicuisine.com Thai is the word at this conveniently named restaurant. The prices are right (dinner entrees cap off at $11) and the choices are abundant. Check out seafood galanga soup (shrimp, scallops, squid and mushrooms cooked with galanga, a pungent rhizome popular in Thai cooking); house specialty pad Thai; and green and red curries featuring chicken, beef, shrimp and duck. Eat First Restaurant 609 H St. NW 202-289-1703 Here’s one restaurant name you and your naggy grandmother can definitely agree upon. This late-night Chinese outpost, open until 2 a.m. weekdays and 3 a.m. on the weekends, serves standbys like spring rolls and crab wontons in addition to the Holy Trinity of ruthlessly Americanized Chinese food: General Tso’s, kung pao and sweet and sour chickens. The most expensive menu item is $5.25, meaning those big portions are a hell of a deal. Jaleo 480 7th St. NW 202-628-7949 www.jaleo.com Jaleo is a popular destination for tapas, shareable, vastly varied Spanish small plates. The menu is a mixture of classic and modern takes on Iberian cuisine. Go old-school with tortilla de patatas (potato and onion omelette) or croquetas de pollo (chicken croquettes), or take a stab at not-so-common treats like calamares encebollados (a whole squid seared with onions and mushrooms) or erizos de mar con pipirrana (sea urchin served with vegetables). Afghan Grill 2309 Calvert St. NW  202-234-5095 www.afghangrill.com Afghani food is characteristically succulent, and there are few places better to treat yourself than the simple but elegant Afghan Grill. Start off by splitting a plate of sambosa goshti, fried pastry shells stuffed with rich ground beef, chick peas and green peas. Chicken, beef, lamb and shrimp are all available in trusty kabob form, but don’t overlook traditional fare like kadu buranee (sautéed pumpkin) or mantoo (steamed beef dumplings). Nooshi 1120 19th St. NW 202-293-3138 www.nooshidc.com Nooshi’s like a culinary passport: The gigantic menu features foods from pretty much every Asian country you can think of. For starters, there are Vietnamese spring rolls, stuffed with pork and crab; mee goreng, Malaysian egg noodles stir-fried with veggies, tofu, and your choice of meat; and Indonesian nasi goreng, or chicken fried rice with egg. Oh, and they have tons of sushi. Keep your eye out for the kimchi tuna roll, a Japanese/Korean fusion of fish, “tempura drops,” scallion and spicy kimchi sauce.

APHRODISIACS!! Herbel foods that will spice up your love life...Enjoy!

Green Energy:
How Herbal Supplements Can Help You
By Eric Horvath


    We’ve all been there…falling asleep in class (lectures), in bed (at the wrong time, of course), and behind the wheel (never a right time for that).  There will always be the traditional remedies to not having enough energy.  The doctor says get enough sleep; Mom says eat your vegetables; Hulk Hogan says eat vitamins and say your prayers.  In recent years, though, more people seem to be listening to Starbucks than Mom and run on Dunkin rather than vitamins and zzzzz’s.
    College students more than anyone feel the heat of stretching their 24 hours far beyond its limits.  Our busy schedules include classes, part time jobs, internships, extra curricular activities and, you know, a social life.  With that, we need easy energy boosters.  College Living has compiled, for our esteemed readers, a few herbal energy supplements designed to not only get you through the day, but perform like a superstar.  Well, the superstar part is according to some of their advertisements.  Hey, they were wearing one of those “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor” t-shirts.  That qualifies, right?

     In Bed:

GoldenRod

    This ‘natural Viagra’ is aimed at, well, we all should know this by now.  It differs from its more pharmaceutical cousin, in that it targets male enhancement with ingredients like Siberian Ginseng, Saw Palmetto and Jujube dates.  That’s right, hard-ons from Jujube dates.  You heard it here first, just don’t tell anyone I told you.  We recommend this, not only for the Jujube dates, but for the name.  How can something called GoldenRod NOT help you in bed?  With a name straight out of an X-rated James Bond flick, this is a definite must try if you need a helping, uh, hand?

    Rise and Shine:

    Coffee, tea and more recently, Red Bull have been the stalwarts for those of us who want to wake up fast in the morning.  While many teas are healthy, tasty energy solutions, coffee and Red Bull can lead to caffeine dependence and lead to nasty sugar crashes later in the day.  The best, most natural way we found to get going in the morning resides in the Jamba Juice company.  Jamba Juice offers a huge selection of smoothies, some with energy in mind, like Machta Green Tea Blast, Acai Supercharger, and Turbo Tropic, which includes more natural energy supplements like 880mg of potassium, 200% of the daily recommendation of vitamin C, as well as vitamins A, B1, B6 and B12. 

    Mid-Day Perk Up

    Feeling the 2:00 p.m. sluggish gremlin tugging at your shirt?  Can’t quite make it up the steps for your afternoon class after lunch?  Prass Ayurvedic is the maker of Herbal Energy Bars, as well as energy butter.  Yep, energy butter!  Just slather some on bread along with jelly, and you’ve got yourself a tasty, freakishly energetic twist on an old classic.  More conventional mid day pick me ups are also available, like the Clif Bar company, which has been producing energy bars and supplements since before it was cool.  Clif makes many varieties, from general energy bars to more specific kinds, like whole nutrition for women and kids.


    Where’s Dinner?!

    It was hard to find energy spaghetti or naturally turbo charged chicken cutlets.  We did find a tasty beverage enhancer, designed to not only boost your energy but provide an uber vitamin boost.  Emergen-C, makers of an original natural powder full of vitamins, also sell supplements like Electro-Mix, designed to turn your regular water into a natural sports drink, sans all the fake colorings and Tiger Woods commercials.  Their other mixes are geared toward replenishing a depleted vitamin supply (see: hangovers), but still provides a hefty energy boost.  And to boot, who isn’t aware of that unquenchable thirst you suffer the day after a hard night of boozing.  Emergen-C certainly helps out there. 

The Rest

    Now that you’ve got herbal energy options for almost any time of the day, its safe to say you can get through that day without a nap.  If you still can’t, then you might have a problem.  Seriously, take a nap!  While this was a somewhat comprehensive list of natural energy supplements for any time of the day, we don’t really recommend you follow it like a Monopoly board and go to each step all the way through the list.  That would lead to a seriously unnatural energy overload in your body.  As always, be careful and keep your eye on what you eat! 

Quick Recipes that cost less than $10.00 to make

On The Cheap:
10 Meals for Under 10 Bucks

By Eric Horvath


    You’ve probably heard of ‘spending past your means.”  Well,
that’s a tough thing to do in college, when your means are
about 10 bucks and some pocket lint.  Forget dining out.  When
we prepare meals, its usually bulk amounts of something
outrageously unhealthy.  College Living thought we’d ask
around to the people we’ve counted on to feed us (past and
present), and people as broke as us for advice on cheap, tasty
meals that won’t drain the wallet.

Mom:

    “Are you serious, Bacon?”  My mom sounded exasperated, even
calling me by my nickname which, for this story, seems
appropriate.  “I fed a family of eight on ten dollars!
Probably the best meal for cheap, though, is tuna casserole,”
she said.  So, here’s my Mom’s Tuna Casserole, cost: $9.75


Mom’s Tuna Casserole

1extra wide egg noodles
2 cans Albacore tuna in water, drained
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
8 oz. Velveeta cheese
4 oz. jar of chopped pimientos, drained
2 ribs of celery, diced
1 small onion, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil egg noodles according to package directions, drain and
stir all ingredients in a large pot until cheese has melted.

Stir in egg noodles and bake for 30-40 minutes.


Lunch Truck Guy

    “I always envied the sandwich,” gushes Lou, my lunch truck
philosopher.  Lou has been feeding me off-and-on since I
started college.  Off and on because I’ve moved schools, but
always stopped back to say hello.  “Now, everybody is
anti-bread.  Its all about wraps.  So, my suggestion is just
take your favorite sandwich and roll it up in a tortilla!”
Thanks Lou…I will.

Lou’s “Anti-Bread” Wrap

4 oz. sliced turkey
Shredded lettuce
Grape/cherry tomatoes
Avocado
Ranch dressing

Assemble however you’d like and roll up.  The key to the
savings here is buying fresh, cheap produce.  Keep a keen eye
out for farmer’s markets near you, as they have the best of
both worlds.


Lunch Lady

    Remember, as a child, how creepy they seemed?  Scooping
mashed potatoes and cake, both of which looked the same, onto
your plate.  Well, lunch ladies fed us throughout our years in
elementary and most of high school with minimal funding, so
they know a thing or two about meals on a tight budget.  I
asked Faye, a lunch lady from my hometown, for her favorite
cheap eats.

Faye’s Egg Salad (cost: $9.97)

8 eggs
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 red onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring
water to a boil; cover, remove from heat, and let eggs stand
in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water,
cool, peel and chop.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, mayonnaise, mustard, dill,
paprika, onion and salt and pepper. Mash well with a fork or
wooden spoon.

Serve on bread as a sandwich.



Supermarket Employee

    Actually, a butcher.  We have regular conversations about,
well, meat.  His meal suggestion was right in his wheelhouse,
too.  “Chili,” he said.  “Make sure you get beef, pork and
veal, though.  That’s the key.”

Bill’s Tri-Meat Chili

1.5lbs meatloaf mix (find it in the butcher’s case)
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 large can of whole (or crushed) tomatoes
1 clove garlic
1 large red onion
1 packet of chili mix

Brown meat in saucepan over medium heat.  Dice onions and
garlic.  In a large pot, add cooked meat, tomatoes, beans and
onions and garlic.  Let cook for 10-15 minutes, add chili mix
and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.  Add corn or other
ingredients if desired.  Freeze leftovers.

My buddy Dan

    Truthfully, I’ve basically just stopped by Dan’s apartment
between classes and raided his fridge.  This normally wouldn’t
qualify him for such a list, but I always noticed taco soup.
Dan has a great recipe for this already cheap meal that is
sure to feed you well past dinner tonight:

Dan’s Taco Soup


1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
2 large yellow onions, diced and cooked with ground beef
7 cups water
1 can 15 oz. can of corn kernels
2 - 3 cups potatoes, diced
7 oz. can of diced green chilies
1 package of taco seasoning
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 4 oz. can of sliced black olives

In a large pot, combine water, corn and potatoes.  Bring to a
boil and simmer about 20 minutes.  Add green chilies, taco
seasoning, tomatoes and cooked beef and onion mixture.  Simmer
15 minutes.  Add cheese soup and olives.  Simmer 5 minutes.  Eat!



Pizza Guy

    Not the delivery guy, but the maker.  Pat, a pizza maker
(full disclosure: I worked for him, too.)  has the inside dish
on how to prepare the quintessential college meal.   While you
could get pizza for cheaper than making yourself, this is a
healthier alternative and still pretty cost effective.

Pat’s Pizza

1 ball whole wheat pizza dough (any self-respecting pizza shop
should sell it)
1 can pizza sauce
10 oz shredded mozzarella
6 oz sliced, fresh mushrooms
Flour

Place aluminum foil over oven grate and preheat oven to 375
degrees.

Place pizza dough in flour and sprinkle flour on a clean
cutting board or other dry surface.

Roll out dough on that surface (with hands or rolling pin) to
desired width. If using your hands, be sure not to touch the
middle of the dough, only the sides.  Let the dough stretch
itself out.

Place stretched dough on aluminum foil and add ingredients.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until crust of golden brown.


Fellow College Student

    Actually, Dan’s roommate Aaron.  Aaron knows our plight like
no other, though.  I’ve seen Aaron get by on only a bag of
potatoes, for almost a MONTH!  Like a squirrel (or is it a
bear?) he stores food (though not in his cheeks) for later
enjoyment.  Aaron supplied me with a recipe that makes use of
an ingredient I’m sure we all have handy, while bringing it up
a few notches.

Ramen Noodle Stir Fry

2 packs of Ramen noodles (any flavor)
1 green pepper
1 onion
2 tbsp roasted peanuts
Stir fry seasoning

Sauté green onion and pepper while you soak noodles in water.
Add eggs and scramble in the same pan, though keeping the egg
somewhat separate.
Add noodles and seasoning.

Elsewhere:

    Our area doesn’t have a monopoly on college students with
knowledge of good, cheap recipes.  We checked out what
collegians in other parts of the country had in mind in terms
of affordable vittles.

Rachel’s Cheeseburger Pie (Portland, Or.)

1lb hamburger meat
2 tbsp flour
Ketchup
Mustard
American cheese
Tomato sauce
Pre-made biscuit batter

Brown hamburger meat with flour and layer on bottom of a
casserole dish, with tomato sauce, ketchup and mustard.

Top with cheese and batter, and bake for 10-15 minutes.  Slide
and dig in!

Creamy Pork Chops and Rice (Rebecca, Minnesota State)

1 can cream of celery soup
1 cup skim milk
½ envelope of dry onion soup mix
¾ cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups frozen, cooked broccoli, thawed
4 lean pork chops, thawed


Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Stir together soup, milk and dry onion soup in an 8x8 baking dish
Mix in rice and broccoli
Arrange pork chops in mixture and season
Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes
Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes

Tomato and Basil Pasta Bake (Jake, Orlando, Fl.)
2 cups wheat-blend rotini pasta
2 cups tomato basil pasta sauce
2 cups thawed, frozen broccoli
2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cook pasta and drain
In a medium bowl, combine pasta, sauce, vegetables and seasoning.
Add pasta mixture to a medium casserole dish and sprinkle
cheese on top
Bake 15-20 minutes

Recipe for HOME MADE FRENCH FRIES!!! OVEN BAKED DELICIOUSNESS!

French fries are my weakness. I’ll admit it, the thought of a crispy, salty fry makes my mouth water. However, I really don’t like frying French fries, not  because of the nutritional aspect, but because it is pretty messy and time consuming.  Instead, I would make oven fries and that too turned into a big mess; they were always soggy.  After hearing about another technique I thought I would give it a try. The key is to actually boil the sliced potatoes before baking them. The result is a crispy, golden brown french fry.
Serves: 4 (or two French fry fiends)

• 2 pounds of russet potatoes (about 5 potatoes); can be peeled or unpeeled the decision is yours; sliced into 1/2 inch strips
• 4 cups of water for boiling
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of seasoning salt (I like Johnny’s)
• Nonstick cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a pot big enough to hold the water and the sliced potatoes, add water and potatoes; bring the potatoes to a boil; once the water starts boiling add the salt; cook until the potatoes are 3/4 of the way done, about 4 minutes. You should be able to insert the tips of a fork, but it should be a little tough to remove it.  (Note: If you are unsure, it is better to under cook the fries at this point, otherwise they may get too soft)
3. Remove from heat and strain, place under running cold water for a few seconds to stop the cooking process.  Strain. Place on a paper towel and pat dry.
4. In a bowl big enough to fit the fries, add the fries, olive oil and seasoning salt. Gently stir to combine.
5. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray and lay the fries out in a single layer. Place in the oven; cook for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and turn the fries. Return to oven for 10 more minutes.
7. After 10 minutes broil for 5 minutes. You can broil for longer depending on how crispy you like your fries.

Once you get the technique down it is really easy to change this recipe to suit your tastes. I’ve used simple kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. I also made cajun fries by subsituting 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning for the seasoning salt. Enjoy!