The Two Burner Superchef

A neighborhood doorway. 

There are many things that I cannot do in the meager kitchen that I have. Among those things is bake anything, or put anything under the broiler, or do anything that requires anything resembling an oven. I have no crockpot (but I'm okay with that because unless you're cooking meat, it tends to destroy the nutritional value in all veggies), no toaster (truth is I didn't use mine much except for late-night snacks), and no KitchenAid (which I only used for making my gluten-free challah).

I'm over all of these things. What really kills me, however, is not having a full-size fridge. Or, at that, a fridge with a working freezer. The college fridge is what I have, and all of us know that such fridges with freezers rarely "freeze" anything and keep it frozen. Add that that the door is broken, and it's serving as space to store more fridge-like things since, well, I have zero space in my fridge to begin with.

The benefit here is that I'm right next to the shuk, so I can go buy fruits and vegetables as I need them. The downside here is that I have a tendency toward laziness when it comes to cooking and because of my lack of fridge/freezer space, I can't really cook when leftovers are involved, making meal-planning a huge pain in my kitchen-loving tuches.

(May this be the worst of my problems.)

I'm considering starting a blog devoted to my ridiculous eating habits (yes, I spent one evening enjoying gluten-free crackers in dijon mustard), something along the lines of how I'm a Two-Burner, Kosher, Gluten-Free, Semi-Dairy-Free Ovo-Vegetarian Who is Willing to eat Chicken and Fish on Shabbat. I'm willing to take name ideas. Make it crafty, make it clever. Otherwise, it's going to be something along the lines of the The Two-Burner Superchef: Adventures of an Eclectic and Restricted Palette. Thoughts?

Anyhow, this is what I put together today. It included the leftover Breakfast Quinoa (golden raisins, cinnamon, coriander, walnuts) that I made over Shabbat, heated up in Almond Milk, topped with Flax Seeds, Walnuts, and Bananas served with some French Press Coffee.

I definitely feel like I'm in college again -- specifically graduate school, where I had one burner, a toaster oven, a few pots, and managed to eat lots of random nothingness. 

I suppose the upside is that there's a chance I might lose some weight, what with all the schlepping paired with all the eating of fruits and vegetables. I will admit that my fingernails seem to be very strong and thick these days, I'm sleeping well (when I'm actually sleeping), and I'm drinking a lot more than ever before, which is bueno for the dehydration. 

Know of any blogs or websites where I can find college-style super healthy, hippie-dippie recipes for someone like me? Share!

SNAP Challenge: Day 1

Today begins the official SNAP Challenge for me, Susie at Daily Cheapskate, and Mara at Kosher on a Budget. To read the rules and regulations, check this post. 


Last night I went to Sunflower Market and landed all of this for $11.39. Winning! These will make for some delicious soup this week. 

Here you'll see lettuce, bananas, peaches, lime juice, yukon potatoes, yam,
tomatoes, parsnip, cilantro, kale, and leeks. 

Here is what I'll be eating for breakfast just about every day this week. 

I call it Quinoa Breakfast Cereal. It's 1/4 cup raisins, 1 cup cooked quinoa, cinnamon, cardamom, and a dash of maple syrup. Bam. Breakfast.

One cup of cooked quinoa has 8 grams protein and 5 grams fiber!

Oh, and the coffee? Part of my rules. It's purchased by work, so I drink it. Take that, SNAP Challenge!


Lunch will be a serving of Lentil Taco "Meat" in White Corn Tortilla "Cups" topped with tomatoes and lettuce and a little bit of sriracha. The snack will be carrot sticks with ... maybe hummus? See below.


So far I have about $4.03 left over, but I have yet to buy the canned white beans I need for one of my soups. I'm also still waffling about whether I'm actually going to open and consume the jar of Peanut Butter I bought for $2.50 or if I want to reallocate that to hummus (which I prefer with my carrots anyway). Stay tuned!