Oh, the delicious Avocado, Tomato, and Mozzarella salad. If I had to pick a current staple in my life (in terms of food, of course), this would be it. Contrary to the name, it's actually incredibly cheap to make, especially in England. I get Fresh mozzarella for 47p and tomatoes and avocado's at the market. And on rainy British days I like to dine on this and pretend I'm sitting in California sunshine.

Ingredients:
1 ball fresh Mozzarella
1 small hass avocado, or 1/2 of a large one (what they tend to sell in the States)
1 small tomato, juiced and diced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
a large pinch of fresh cilantro, or in the winter I use about 1/4tea dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

crusty bread on the side

Directions:
Dice and salt the mozzarella, avocado, and tomato

Sprinkle with lemon juice and cilantro/basil

Thats it! Enjoy! Sweet Pea won't touch this but she does like to steal my bread.

I promised another Halloumi recipe, and thanks to Nigella, here it is. I think my favorite idea in this recipe is the sweet potato, baking potato combo. The best of both worlds. Even Cheap liked this! Which says a lot because he seems to have issues with the dreaded sweet potato, even if it's covered in marshmallows and butter... crazy, I know.

Ingredients:
1 Sweet Potato
2 Baking Potatoes
1 onion, chopped (red would be nice but we used yellow)
6 cloves garlic, cloves- peeled but still whole
3 Tablespoons oil
8 oz Halloumi, sliced thin (Feta would be the closest alternative)

Optional:
Any other veggies that you might have laying around

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F

Dice up the potatoes into 1inch chunks

Mix with onions, garlic and oil but don't salt because the Halloumi is salty

Pour mixture into roasting pan and top with the thinly sliced Halloumi

Bake for about 30 minutes or until potatoes and cheese are golden.


This puppy will steal the show. Enjoy!

I had a hankering. I had a hankering for bacon, avocado, egg, and cheese... what was one to do? Whip up the slightly tedious Cobb Salad! I say "slightly tedious" because if you don't have any leftover chicken, bacon, or egg, one must cook up three items to enjoy the cobby goodness. But it is worth it, and made easier with leftovers (I had chicken and also a husband who loves to slice). And with basic ingredients it's cheap to make. To embellish with a brief (2 minute Google search) history, the Cobb Salad (cir. 1937) was created by famous LA restaurateur Robert Cobb for a Hollywood friend as a late night snack. The friend continued to ask for the "Cobb" Salad and a new Hollywood tradition had begun. I'm glad it did and Thank you Mr.Cobb.

Ingredients:
1 head of Romaine, chopped
5 slices of crispy bacon, crumbled
1-2 avocado's, diced
2 hard boiled eggs, finely diced
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced (I had leftover breaded chicken, so that's what I used)
1/2 cup blue cheese or shredded cheddar cheese (traditionally it's blue but the overpowering flavor can ruin the salad if someone doesn't like it)


Optional Honey Mustard Dressing:
1/4 cup mayo (can definitely use light)
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon favorite mustard
1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice
dash of salt

Directions:
Once everything is cooked (if need be), diced and shredded, the rest is easy!

Put chopped romaine into a salad bowl

Place crumbled bacon, diced avocados, diced eggs, diced tomatoes, sliced chicken, and shredded cheese in rows on top of the romaine lettuce (like picture above). Gotta love the Cobb presentation!

Serve with dressing on the side, honey mustard and ranch go well!

Cheap and I split this whole thing between the two of us. Needless to say we were quite hungry, and then quite full. But we enjoyed ourselves! Sweet Pea opted for cheese and bread-- I don't think salad is quite her thing yet...

Macaroni and cheese with caramelized onions on top, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Besides Cheap's Aunt's "Party Potatoes" this is my other potluck fave. Pasta and cheese...mmmmm...what a combo! And I have finally landed on a mac and cheese recipe that has lots of flavor. For some reason, past recipes I've tried have been too bland for my taste. With this one, Cheap and Sweet Pea were anxiously awaiting leftovers. Glad my fam likes awesome cheesy carbs as much as I!

Ingredients:
8 oz elbow macaroni or mini shells (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 cups or 8oz shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream (I recommend light for a more subtle sour cream flavor)
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F

Pour a round of oil onto a hot skillet and add onion. Let caramelize (takes about 10 minutes)

While the onions are cooking, dump pasta into a pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta to desired texture

While onions and pasta are cooking, mix together sour cream, milk, cottage cheese, parm, shredded sharp cheddar, and salt

Once pasta is done, strain water and then add pasta to the cheese mixture. Stir together.

In a greased 9x13, pour in pasta mixture and then top with caramelized onions from the skillet

Cover the dish with a pan (or foil or whatever) and bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from dish and bake for 10 more minutes. Dig in!

Yes, yes, I know! More roast potatoes?! I have quick roast 'taters for dinner in a bind, but if you want traditional roast potatoes and you have the time, make these. It's well worth it. They have a crispy shell that is just oh so divine. You can make this with oil or butter. Butter tastes better but oil is cheaper and better for you, so we opted for the latter option. Cheap and I gobbled up a third of this dish for dinner and then proceeded to gobble up half by bedtime. Whoops!

Ingredients:
6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in half
1/4 cup oil or butter
salt to taste
2 sprigs rosemary (this is optional but we have a rosemary plant in our backyard, so I used it)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F

Par-boil potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes or until potatoes get soft but still hold their shape well.

Mix potatoes with oil and place cut-side-down in greased roasting pan. Salt generously.

Place in the oven for 25min

After 25min, take the 'taters out of the oven and gently press down on each potato with a potato masher (we don't own one so I used the bottom of a cup -hey, we're cheap and we're not living in England forever). You should be able to smush the potato but you don't want to mash so hard that it falls apart (a few of mine did anyway).

Top with rosemary and put the roast back in the oven for 25min more or until golden brown and crispy.

Let cool for 10 minutes and serve up. These are best right out of the oven. Mmmmmmm!

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!

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.

Definitely an impressive way to whip up something easy for breakfast, or as a side to a main dish or salad. The first time I served this to Sweet Pea, around 14 months old, she took one bite and proceeded to stuff the rest of it into her mouth. As a kid, I still remember sitting on the kitchen floor watching these gems inflate in the oven. Needless to say, this recipe is fun for kids, and infants apparently.

Ingredients:
This recipe is for a 6 cup muffin tin, double if using a 12 cup one
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tea salt
1/4 cup melted butter
Optional: 1/2 cup favorite shredded cheese

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450F (230 C)

Whisk eggs and milk together, then add salt and flour. I mix until slightly frothy on top. If you want cheesy pudding, add the cheese now too, it's quite delicious (pictured above)!

Pour melted butter into the bottom of the muffin cups, just enough to cover the bottom

Fill muffin tins about 1/2 to 3/4 full with batter

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until towering and golden.

Serve immediately because puddings deflate a bit. I usually use a knife to punch a hole in the top of each to let the steam escape.

Just like crepes, these can be eaten salty or sweet. Top with jam or powdered sugar for sweet, or butter for savory. Enjoy the doughy, eggy goodness!

In a bind? Need a side dish without much prep?

Ingredients:
As many baking potatoes as will do the trick
As many chopped onions as you like (I like LOTS)
Melted butter or oil
Salt to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven 400F

Slice the baking potatoes lengthwise into thirds

Combine with onion

Drizzle butter or oil so that each tater and onion is lightly coated (salt to taste)

Whack it in the oven for 45 min or until golden.

Voilà!

Another option: Stick potatoes in a plastic bag and take a meat mallet to them so they get properly smashed into bits. Dump into pan and then continue with the recipe. Sweet Pea thought this method was hilarious.


Very cheap, very easy.

I seem to always have too many potatoes on hand. I simply can't understand why my grocery store, back in the States, offers a 5lb bag of potatoes for only 10¢ less than a 10lbs bag. So of course I always go with the 10lbs bag and inevitably end up with 4(ish) quite dehydrated and sprouted potatoes. With our shoe-string budget, I will not let that happen here. With my 1kg baking potatoes for £1, I will use them all (and before they turn green). This recipe is inspired by a picture I saw in a bookstore window. I thought it looked interesting and so it would be a good use for my excess of taters. Cheap liked it, and so did I.

The Ingredients:
2 lbs potatoes, cut into cubes
1 jar/can black whole black olives
2 handfuls cherry tomatoes
1 Med onion, sliced
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/4c oil
2 cloves garlic minced or 1 tea garlic powder
4 sprigs rosemary, or whatever dried herb you have on hand that you enjoy.
Salt to taste

The Directions:
Heat oven to 450(220) Bring a pot of water to a boil and flash boil potatoes for 5 minutes.

Mix oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and herb and pour into roasting pan

Dump potatoes into roasting pan along with onion, cherry tomatoes, and black olives. Mix with oil/lemon mixture.

Put in oven for 40minutes, turning once.

When veggies are browned and crispy, take out and enjoy!

We actually found the pairing of black olives and potatoes simply delightful. I never would have thought of it on my own. Sweet Pea liked the olives but Cheap and I ate the whole thing.

I thinks leeks are yummo. However, back in the States I never buy leeks because my cheap grocery store doesn't carry them. Well here in England, they're a dime a dozen. Well, sort of. I bought one leek for 24p at my local farmers market. One great aspect of leeks is that they pair well with one of my favorite meats, bacon.

The Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup Arborio rice (can be bought at Trader Joe's)
4 strips of cooked crispy bacon
1 large leek, diced
2 Tbs butter (I used oil)
Salt to taste

optional:
1/3 cup parm

The Directions:
For reasons out of my control, I ended up with "Paella Rice" in my cupboard. It looks similar to Arborio rice, and my goal is resourcefulness, so I used it. Not my first choice, but it had to be done. I later made this recipe with traditional Arborio rice and it turned out fab.

Put butter (I used oil) in a pot and add leek. (I wasn't sure how to even cut a leek so if you need help:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm6XGDwjJQA).

Sauté for about 4 minutes and add rice.

Once rice is coated and is slightly toasted add the stock and white wine (I was out of white wine, and omitted it this time. I did miss it however).

Cover the rice and let it simmer with occasional stirs.

After about 20-25min, or when the rice is tender and creamy, take it off the heat and add crumbled bacon and salt to taste.

I topped mine with some mature cheddar, and breaded chicken. It was yummo and Cheap liked it.