For someone who's not really a cucumber fan, I tell you what, this is a great side dish. Our grocery store unexpectedly bestowed upon us a free cucumber. I don't really like cucumbers and would have preferred cheese or chocolate, but I took my gifted cucumber and made cucumberaide, so to speak... I mean, talk about sweet, crunchy, and refreshing, this salad is going to do well for us in the summer. I've become slightly more of a cucumber fan. Just slightly (but a huge fan of this salad).

Ingredients:
1 small cucumber , thinly sliced (lengthwise or crosswise) with a vegetable peeler
1 small red onion , sliced (I never have red onion since white is so much cheaper, I slice a white onion very thinly)
2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp favorite vinegar
pinch of salt

Directions:
Slice cucumber, sprinkle with salt and place in a colander to lose excess moisture

Slice onion and mix with vinegar and sugar

Add cucumber and chill for 1 hour at least.

Cucumber-haters out there, beware!

I'm posting this recipe to remind myself of this very easy, very classic breakfast. I tend to make this with croissant's when living abroad, and with biscuits when living State-side. We find that this delight is a great way to greet the morning and have the day start on a special note. My mouth is watering at just the thought of this diddy.

Ingreidents:
(Serves 1, you can figure it out from here)
1 croissant or flakey biscuit
2 strips of crispy bacon
1 egg beaten, slightly salted
1 slice of cheddar (brie can work well too)

Directions:
Toast croissant in the oven or bake the biscuit

Cook egg over the stove as to make a thin pancake (when we need to speed things up we cook the egg in the microwave for about a minute and you can do that with the bacon as well. About 1 min 30sec per slice, it gets nice and crispy)

When all is warm, put the egg, bacon, and cheese into the croissant or biscuit and dig in! Oh, this is so yummers.

Do you have some of those rock-hard pears on your hands? My problem with these under-ripe sweeties is that by the time they are ripe, I've completely forgotten about them and think of them as part of my kitchen decor. To ensure that we enjoy our pears before it's too late, we poach them in a delectable spice sauce. It goes famously with ice-cream and cookie crumbles on top.

Ingredients:
4 firm pears- pealed, gutted, and cut in half lengthwise
1 1/2cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tea cinnamon
1/2 tea allspice/apple pie/pumpkin pie spice (whichever)
1/4 tea ginger

Directions:
Lay sliced pears in the bottom of the slow cooker

Dump everything else on top and swish around a bit.

Slow cook for 3-4 hours on high, or until pears are soft but don't fall apart

Sometimes the juice stays a bit watery, so I occasionally mix 1/4c flour with 1/4c water and pour it in about an hour before the pears are done. It thickens the sauce into more of a syrup


Serve on top of some classic vanilla, or as is. I personally think this dish needs a bit of crunch so we like to top ours with crumbled cookies, wafers, graham crackers... whatever tickles your fancy.

Always an inexpensive crowd pleaser, this ancient Aztec cuisine has persevered through the centuries. With longevity like that, it's worth a taste. Now, I can't vouch that this recipe is how the Aztecs made it, but it's darn good anyway.

Ingredients:
2 avocados (the cheapest ones I've found in the US are at Aldi)
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 roma tomato, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tea garlic powder or 2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tea salt
1/4 tea cayenne pepper

Optional: 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (if you have it around, I highly recommend it)

Directions:
Scoop avacado pulp into a small bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix and smash, mix and smash...

You're done. Easy as pie (Actually, it's much easier than pie).

This is obviously great with tortilla chips, but if Cheap and I are digging into a midnight dish we sometimes bake salted tortillas in the oven until crispy. Makes it an even healthier dish.

Carbonara Rimanenza or "Leftover Carbonara" (at least according to Google translate). I actually like to call it Garbage Carbonara where you throw in any veggie you have leftover that you're not sure what to do with before it spoils. With a market down the street, this happens quite a bit for us. The only veggie that I highly recommend you keep in the following recipe, are the grape tomatoes. They add a sweet pop to the dish. Eat up!

Ingredients:
1 lbs Fettuccine
5 strips of crispy bacon, crumbled or 5 oz diced and sautéed pancetta
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 eggs, beaten together
1 cup grated parmesan (we use a block of parm, we like it better and it can be a bit less expensive in the UK )
1 tea dried basil (use fresh if you have it)
Salt and pepper to taste

1 pint of mushrooms cut into fourths
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 pint of grape tomatoes

Directions:
Sauté bacon or pancetta in a frying pan

When meat is cooked, set meat aside and fry mushrooms, onions, and garlic in the leftover grease.

In a pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta

While pasta is boiling, mix parm, eggs, and basil together. Make sure this sauce is finished before the pasta.

Once pasta is finished, drain and and quickly return to pot. The pasta needs to remain hot in order to cook the eggs in the carbonara sauce. Add sauce and mix together.

Add sautéed veggies, garlic, and the fresh grape tomatoes. Salt and pepper to taste (I add quite a bit of salt, I'm a big fan)

Top with a little more grated parm. Serve and gustare! (Thanks again Google Translate)

Since we're in England, I thought I'd post something a bit more English, yet still very cheap. I saw J.Oliver make something like this and my first thought was... Mmmmmmmm. Cheap and I made this dish one morning and it got a big thumbs up. It has quite a simple flavor and goes well with coffee, a nice combo on an early morn.

Ingredients:
(serves 2)
2 Eggs, beaten together
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 crumpets (they're 57p for 8 in the UK, I know you can purchase them in the States at large grocery store chains)
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar (or favorite cheese)

Directions:
Beat eggs, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl

Soak crumpets, one at a time, in the eggy mix

Place soaked crumpets on a hot pan and cook until crumpets are nice and toasty

Once ready, place crumpets on dish and top with cheese. Eat immediately.

We like to have a side of bacon or sausage with ours.