BROKE is a key word of this blog

As you all probably guessed by the name of this blog, I am not sleeping on a mattress stuffed with hundred dollar bills. In fact, I don't think I could fill my mattress with pennies. I'm in college, with a seriously expensive food allergy, and I can't work because of injuries from a car accident. This means when it comes time to buy books and supplies, I start to panic.

I wasn't able to sell my books from the past 2 semesters back because the professors are constantly switching books. Ugh, right? haha. B

UT good news is just a sentence or 2 away! If you have a school with a Barnes and Noble Campus Bookstore (there are LOTS of them) you don't have to get super big headaches anymore! You can RENT your textbooks! Instead of buying them for full price then hoping you can sell them back at the end of the semester you save up front! Sometimes like 80%! Then you just give them back. How freaking awesome is that?!

Here's some textbook rental info for you:

Also, theres a BOGO 50% off Champion Apparel sale going on!

Either of those links will let you easily know if your school bookstore is a Barnes and Noble bookstore. Just click your state and your school!

GOOD LUCK THIS SEMESTER!!!

Try not to eat as many gluten free Pamela's Simplebites cookies as I have, haha.

Mmm Breakfy!

"NOM-elette"

nom nom nom

This morning I woke up FREEZING! Probably because my dog stole my comforter while I was sleeping, grrr! I went downstairs hungry and watched TV with a blanket and my fuzzy little heater. I was too cold to get out from under a mound of blankets and my dog to make breakfast, but then around noon I realized "I'm really hungry... I can warm myself from the inside out!" and tossed my dog, London, and my blankets aside.

I have never made an omelette before and decided I would try this morning because I was sick of pancakes or waffles. Plus it is wayyy too cold to eat cereal. It's like 60 degrees in my house! I'm still not ready to turn my heat on. Actually, I am ready, but my bank account isn't. Anywho, I decide I want an omelette and so does the boyfriend (on top of the 2 turkey sandwiches he was already making). So I pull out the bacon (a necessity in this house) and ask James how many pieces he wants... he responds "yes." That translates into "I want all the bacon in the world, so I will eat as much bacon as you can fit on my plate." So I fry up 6 pieces of bacon and 2 pieces of sausage (It's Sunday, calories and cholesterol don't count). After I blot out as much grease as possible I start on the omelette.

For each omelette I used:

3 Eggs

1/2 small clove Garlic

1/2 Green Onion

1/8(ish) of a Green Pepper

1 Sausage Patty

1/4(ish) cup Milk

1/8(ish) cup of Cheddar Cheese (plus more for the middle)

Chop all the ingredients into small pieces and whisk everything together. Pour into a big pan (lightly buttered or baconed ;) so it doesn't stick) over fairly low heat (I had my burner on around 3 1/2) and let it cook until the top is solid, then flip it (this will require some practice from me) cook it a minute or so longer, transfer to a plate, sprinkle more Cheddar Cheese on half, fold it over and serve! With bacon on the side of course! Enjoy!!!

xxx

That's what I saw when I looked at my dogs bed last night when I woke up cold. She had my comforter and my stuffed animal on her bed! And she covered herself like people! Hahaha.

Missing Home...

In the next week and a half I have a lot of major things going on. My birthday, the 8th anniversary of my best friends death and the 3rd anniversary of the car accident that pretty much ruined my life. Don't get me wrong, I don't want sympathy and my accident could have been MUCH worse, but it still makes me want to be home. Around my friends and family... and Agatinas! It's Super good food and the ENTIRE MENU (from what I know) can be made gluten free! They even have a dessert there that is one of the best things I've ever eaten!

So I sat on the couch and started the "what do you

want for dinner?" discussion with my boyfriend (think Jungle Book vultures). Then I decided I wanted Chicken French! I guess this is a Rochester thing. WOO GO R-O-C!!! It's an Italian dish, don't let the name fool you. No one really knows why it's called Chicken French but I have a theory! Because it requires a good amount of butter! Julia Child taught me French food is buttery food.

So I went to the liquor store, got some wine and came home and starting cooking! I think next time I'll use a little less lemon juice.

"Chicken French"

with Brown Rice and Green Beans

What you need:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (pounded thin)

1/3 cup Flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

3-4 cloves of Garlic (minced)

2 Tbsp Chicken Broth/Stock

1/4 cup Butter (1/2 stick)

1/4 cup Lemon Juice

1/4 cup Dry Sherry Wine

1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese (grated Bel Gioso is what I always get)

1 Tbsp Sugar

2 Eggs

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil (to coat the pan)

Start off by whisking the Egg, Sugar and Parmesan Cheese together. Heat Salt and Pepper the breasts and press both sides into the Flour, then Egg, then Flour again. Put them in the large pan with heated Olive Oil on medium and cook for about 5 minutes, flip and do the same thing until fully cooked. Set aside.

In the same pan melt 1/4 Butter and add the garlic. Next add the Wine, Chicken Stock and Lemon Juice. Make sure you scrape up all the crunchy bits from cooking the chicken! Let it simmer for a few minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the Chicken back to the sauce and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Top it with sauce.

A lot of people serve Chicken French over pasta or with rice covered in the sauce. I usually do pasta but rice is cheaper ;) and my boyfriend is sick of pasta. He's crazy, I could live off of it! Well, onto dessert!

WEGMANS HAS UDI'S!!!!!!!

NOM NOM NOM!!!

TURKEY BAGEL SANDWICH - UDI'S STYLE

This doesn't look like anything special, but if you can't eat gluten it is! It's a turkey sandwich that is on a bagel! Ok, big deal. A bagel. Let me rephrase this, AN UDI'S BAGEL! IT'S DELICIOUS!!! ANDDD IT HAS GOOD TEXTURE! Now, I didn't just discover Udi's. I read about Udi's products on somebody's gluten free blog in a different area of the country and sent a mass email out to the Rochester Celiac Support Group asking if anyone had tried it or if anyone know where in the greater Rochester, NY area I could get some. I think 2 people said they had tried the bread while on vacation and loved it. It started a HUGE movement. People started demanding stores carry Udi's. A lot of smaller stores did!

Today I went to Wegmans (I haven't shopped in a while because I hurt my knee and couldn't drive my car, stupid clutch. Oh, and I'm broke no shocker, haha) and I bought Udi's Bagels, White Bread (I prefer this over the whole grain), Pizza Crusts and Lemon Streusel Muffins. I've had all of this before except for the Muffins, which I plan to try as soon as this sandwich digests.

I really can't explain how much Udi's has changed my life. I actually cried when I tried the bread the first time. I forgot I like sandwiches. But now that I can get it with the rest of my groceries I can eat delicious sandwiches whenever the craving strikes because I don't have to pay for shipping :-D So today for lunch I had a Plain Udi's Bagel, Honey Roasted Turkey, Muenster Cheese, Lettuce, Pickles and a little Mayo. It was delicious! If you haven't tried Udi's yet, you should! Here's a link to $1.00 off anything Udi's coupon :)

Happy Eating!

xxx

Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Escarole

"What is this?" you ask...

This is YUM!

Yup, the picture might not make it look like anything all that special because it was taken in my poorly lit dining room at about 9:30pm on my blackberry but believe me it's delicious! It's actually my boyfriends favorite meal (besides my alfredo sauce which I will NEVER share the recipe of). He even likes the escarole. That is amazing because he hates vegetables! ALL vegetables. Except potatoes, but doesn't everyone like potatoes? So let's get on with the recipe.

Sauteed Escarole with Garlic

1 Bunch of Escarole (Cleaned SUPER well and torn a bit)

1/8 (ish) cup of EVOO

6-7 cloves of Chopped Garlic

Salt and Pepper

a splash of Chicken Stock

What to do:

CLEAN YOUR ESCAROLE!! Seriously. No one wants to chomp on dirt. It's not tasty. So when it's clean and torn into smaller pieces, not tiny cuz it shrivels, then put it into a GIANT pot and bring it to a boil, about 5 minutes.

While the escarole is doing its thing put a good amount of olive oil in a big pan and sautee the garlic.

Has it been about 5 minutes yet? I say yes. Drain your escarole and run it under cold water until its not hot anymore then start sauteeing it in the garlic and oil. I let it cook about 15-20 minutes. When there's about 5 minutes left I salt and pepper it and add a splash of chicken stock (or wine, if I have that) and keep mixing it around till it's done.

After all that I put it in the oven or microwave to keep it warm. I don't have enough pans to make all the components at the same time, I'm broke.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Bread Crumbs (I use Schar)

Parmesan BelGioso (Splurge and buy the good stuff, you don't need much)

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

Italian Seasoning

What to do:

Pound the Chicken so it's nice and thin, a half inch or so thick.

Mix the Bread Crumbs with Garlic Powder and Italian Seasoning.

Coat the bottom of a pan with EVOO and let it heat up (I set the heat on about 3 1/2-4 on my stove. So like a low medium).

Massage (do it with love :)) some olive oil into the chicken breasts on one side then season with Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder and Italian Seasoning.

Sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese over it then sprinkle the Bread Crumbs on top. Add a little more Parmesan Cheese and press it firmly into the chicken.

Place it seasoned side down in the hot oil and repeat the seasoning on the other side.

Flip it carefully to the other side and finish cooking.

After it's done I sprinkle a little more cheese on top :)

It's SOOOOO delicious. And even though some of the ingredients are more pricey you only need a few tablespoons. I promise it's delicious and if you serve it to guests they will have NO IDEA it's gluten free.

I'd suggest practicing the escarole before serving it to guests, it took me a while to get it right.

I'd also like to give a should out to www.affordableglutenfree.blogspot.com for encouraging me to get back into this!

Happy Gluten Free Cooking!!!

XOXO

HOLY CANNOLI!!!

To everyone who thought gluten free cannoli were impossible... HA!!! I made them. My cannoli forms came in the mail a few days ago and I made shells :-D They were so easy to make. I plan to tweak the recipe a little bit when I have more time and my back isn't so sore. There are all sorts of ways to fill the cannoli so I'll leave finding that recipe to you but I'll give you one tip... DRAIN YOUR RICOTTA! For a longgg time. Although I've been told to do that I was impatient and did it for like an hour. haha, it was watery and disgusting. The second time I let mine sit for a day. I would have waited longer still but I'm impatient. And use GOOD ricotta, the whole milk kind. Imported ricotta is supposed to be better, but I don't have the kind of money to get my cheese overnighted from Italy or something. If you do, send me some of your cannoli :) So here it is...

"Holy Cannoli"

2/3 cup of Pamela's Pancake and Baking mix

1 1/2 teaspoons Shortening

1/2 teaspoon Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Vanilla

a pinch of Salt

1/4 cup (approx) Pinot Grigio

Mix all ingredients except Pinot Grigio together. Slowly, while mixing, add a small amount of wine at a time until you get a dough-like consistency. Take the dough and pat in into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. After it chills for a bit line your work area with plastic wrap, divide your ball into 6 even wedges.

work one piece at a time rolling out between plastic wrap to about a 4" square that is 1/8" thick. This dough is easy to tear and kind of sticky so the best way to roll the square onto the tube is to take the top lay of plastic wrap off and use the bottom one to wrap the dough onto the tube. That way it stays in place without falling apart. Make sure to overlap corners.

It's really easy to do! Then all you do is fry them in some canola oil until golden, about a minute, and you have cannoli shells! I just dropped my first one in the oil and it unravelled so go slowly. Then fill it with whatever cannoli filling you like and dip the ends in mini chocolate chips!

All I wanted was cannoli...

I begged a place back home to make them since they have a great gluten free menu, but the owner said it wouldn't work. Pshh! Whatever. I'll make my own. No disease or allergy will keep me from that delicious little pastry for the rest of my life. I guess it's time to take matters into my own hands. Who would have thought that in the area I live NO WHERE sells cannoli tubes!? Not me! I love cannoli! After going to about a million stores and not finding what I needed I decided to take the advice I saw online... go to a lowes or home depot and have tubing cut for you. OK! Well I got to lowes and the guy said they "pre-grease" their pipes, so that was out but he recommended a few places I could go since I'm new to the area. After calling about 7 stores INCLUDING an Italian market I gave up and ordered off of Amazon. Including shipping it was only like $1 more than the ones I saw on bed bath and beyond's website. Unfortunately for me, this means no cannoli until my package arrives in 3-5 business days. WAHHHH :'(. I still can't believe an Italian market doesn't have the tools to make cannoli! That's like a staple! I wonder what else they don't have... Pasta? Anywho, I still wanted some sort of creamy, cheesy, crispy snack/dessert. And what Shannon wants, Shannon gets :-D So I decided to wing it and I created a Raspberry Mocha Cream Puff Thing. That's what I'll call it, unless you have any better ideas?

"Raspberry Mocha Cream Puff Thing"

So I guess I'll share how I created this fattening summer dessert.

First, a Cream Puff:

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 7/8 cup Pamela's baking and pancake mix ("flour")
• 4 eggs

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the water, vanilla, salt and sugar. Bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling take off the heat and pour in the flour and stir until it's a smooth ball. Let that cool for about 10 minutes. Once it's not super hot mix in the eggs, one at a time thoroughly beating the mixture, It should be smooth and pretty runny. Grease a cupcake tray and fill it about 1/2 - 3/4 of the way with the batter and bake for 30-35 minutes at 400*. I like to GENTLY (cuz they're pretty hollow) brush them with egg and sprinkle with sugar for the last few minutes. Take them out, let them cool and cut the bottom off. You WANT this muffin top ;)

Then to Fill:

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 cup), softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 - 3/4 cup of fresh raspberries

5 teaspoons mocha powder

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

In a mixer mash the raspberries and granulated sugar together. Add cream cheese and butter and beat until creamy. Add mocha powder and vanilla and beat until mixed. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and mix until you get a frosting like consistency, it will be a little thinner, then incorporate the mini chocolate chips.

Assembly:

Scoop the filling into the pastries like they were little bowls, then garnish with fresh fruit. I chose strawberries and raspberries.

You could pretty much use any fruit you want with this recipe. I considered a red, white and blue theme since it's July, but as you can see I didn't consider it for long :-P Hope ya like it!