I remember learning about this soup in French class... "Soupe à l'Oignon" We'd have to say sentences in French like, "I would like the onion soup and my friend would like ham" ...very creative, and not to mention classy. This is definitely an onion soup and not something I crave lots of. But when the weather is cold, there's something so wonderful about warm oniony broth covered and baked with cheese. And lets face it, you can't get much cheaper than onion. By the way, I didn't absolutely cover the pictured soup with cheese because I figured if I was going to take a picture, one might as well get a glimpse of the soup. I'll be sure to cover and bake next time.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
7 onions any variety (I used red and yellow)
6 cups stock (veggie, chicken, beef... traditional is beef but whatever you fancy)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons sugar
Cheese for topping (swiss, mature cheddar, gruyère if it's not too $$)
1 loaf of ciabatta or crusty bread, cut into inch cubes


Optional:
1/2 cup white wine for chick or veggie broth or 1/2 cup red for beef broth

Directions:
In a large pot melt butter and add onion and garlic. Cook until onion becomes translucent.

Add whichever stock, rosemary, salt, sugar, and wine (if desired) and let simmer for 20-30 minutes

Ladle soup into oven proof bowls (mine at home are regular ceramic and they work fine)

This is where my picture is slightly deceiving, we don't have proper bowls in our student housing so I had to use a mini mug... Cut bread into inch squares and place on top of soup. Then top off with lots of cheese.

Put the cheese topped bowls under the broiler until cheese melts, keep a close eye because you don't want bowls to get too hot.

Enjoy the ooey gooey goodness!

Probably one of the best takeaways from our visit to Athens, Greece was our daily, very cheap, chicken gyro. My mouth just waters as I remember sitting along fountains or by ancient ruins and devouring this fine, saucy fare. Not only do we try to eat as cheaply as possible, we currently try to travel as cheaply as possible (hopefully that will change). This yummy Greek street food filled our bellies with flare and our favorite ingredient was the in-sandwich-fries. Wouldn't have thought to do that but who am I to argue with tradition? Cheap and I make this to reminisce over cheap Greek good eats (even if we couldn't seem to find any shade to enjoy this in).

Ingredients:
Chicken marinade:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 medium-sized chicken breasts, or 2 large chicken breasts

4 flat-breads
leafy greens
3 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup olives (green of black)
1 cup crumbled feta
french fries (we use leftover or freezer to make it simple)
Tzatziki Sauce

Directions:
Mix together marinade and then add chicken. Let chicken marinate for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450F

When chicken is done marinating, bake for 25-30 minutes (or until golden). You can use this time to chop up all your toppings

After chicken is done cooking, let it rest for 10 minutes and then cut into thin slices.

It's fun to set everything out and let folks pick any or all (which we prefer in the Cheap household) of the toppings they wish.

Enjoy!

We had some leftover cucumber... hmmm... what should I do.. Ah-ha! Chicken gyros with fabulous summery tzatziki sauce! Sweet Pea surprisingly enjoyed this so much that she dipped her bread and then sucked all the sauce off. We'll teach her the no double dipping rule in a few years.

Ingredients:
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup thinly grated cucumber
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs dill
1 teaspoon garlic powder or 3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:
Mix everything together and enjoy.

If you have leftovers, this would be great topped on grilled salmon. Mmmmm.