Fridge Cleaning Pasta Salad

Hello and welcome! 

Today's dish was inspired yet again by having lots of leftovers in the fridge that all look great on their own, but may or may not have worked well in anything else...

The Recipe:Fridge Cleaning Pasta Salad

• 1 cup Pasta (previously cooked)
• 1/4 grilled Chicken Breast (previously cooked)
• 1 cup halved Strawberries
• 1/8 Cucumber, sliced and chopped
• 1 cup Romaine Lettuce, chopped

The Process:

• Wrap the chicken in a paper towel
• Use a microwave to reheat the chicken. It should take 1-2 minutes on high. Be careful taking the chicken out of the microwave. 
• Put the pasta in a microwave-safe bowl with a paper towel over it.
• Use a microwave to reheat the pasta. It should take 1-2 minutes on high. Be careful taking the pasta out of the microwave.
• Toss all ingredients together. 
• Enjoy!

The Calories:

Pasta: 100 calories (depending on brand and type)

Chicken: 60 calories (depending on how it was marinated)

Strawberries: 49 calories

Cucumber: 8 calories

Lettuce: 16 calories

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TOTAL: 241 calories

What went right:

          This was a very filling and well-rounded meal, especially considering the final calorie count!

What went wrong:

          While everything tasted good on its own, combining a very summery salad with a pollo pasta this way wasn't the best choice. It was good, but would have been better in separate courses. 

What I would do next time:

         As previously mentioned, I would make two separate dishes: one, a salad, with lettuce, cucumber, and strawberries. The other, pasta, chicken, and maybe some alfredo or marinara if I had some on hand. 

Would I make this in college?:

        Yeah, for a late night leftovers meal, this turned out pretty great! Definitely the kind of thing for a college student menu. 

Overall, I ended up with an easy, low-calorie meal that just needed to become two separate plates. I'd call that a successful fridge cleaning experiment :) 

   

What would you make if you were cleaning out your fridge?

Loaded Oatmeal

Hello hello!

Thanks for being such an avid reader :)

While on my oatmeal kick, I decided to see what was so wrong about normal, instant oatmeal...

The Recipe:  Loaded Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup Rolled Oats
• 1 cup warm water
• 5 strawberries, cut in 1/4 slices
• 1 banana, sliced
• 1 apple, sliced and diced
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 cup wheat germ

The Process: 

• Preheat the oven for 325 degrees
• Mix the water and oats
• Microwave until oats are saturated
• In an oven-safe bowl, mix the apple chunks, honey, and wheat germ into the oatmeal
• Lay the bananas and strawberries on top of the oatmeal
• Sprinkle the top with brown sugar, so that it will create a caramelized layer over the oatmeal
• Bake the oatmeal for about 10 minutes, or until the brown sugar has all caramelized
• Remove and transfer to a normal eating bowl 
• Enjoy?

The Calories:

Rolled Oats: 150 calories

Strawberries: 15 calories

Banana:         105 calories

Apple:            77 calories

Brown Sugar: 17 calories

Honey:           21 calories

Wheat Germ: 104 calories

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TOTAL:        489 calories

Not terrible, considering this is high fiber and has three different fruits.

What went right: 

            The heated fruits were awesome!

What went wrong:

            I am not a fan of oatmeal.......the mushiness was definitely combated well through the fruit additions and they really don't taste like anything, so that's fine...

Would I do this in college:

           Can't say that I would! However, I could try a sort of baked fruit salad...hmmm...foreshadowing??

Overall, I did everything right and learned a valuable lesson about why oats are great in cookies and bread, but oatmeal...not so tasty! Oh well, I still ate it all :)