Tablespoon of Geek: Back-to-School Tuna Sandwich

The month of September is coming quickly to an end with only a couple of days left until the changeover to October happens. During this past month I have themed my “Tablespoon Of Geek” posts around what I believe to be the major event of the month, back to school. Now that the changing of the months is upon us this means that today it will be my last “Back to School” recipe post for the year. 

For those who have been keeping up my back-to-school recipes have been aimed at the broke and starving college student. Essentially the idea is to take all of those cheap bulk meals and enhance them into something that is actually tasty. With all the recipes it did not cost me more than 20 dollars for all the ingredients and made the servings large enough for at least a couple meals at that price.

Up to this point I have used the college food essentials of Kraft Dinner, Ichiban and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. Talking to my friends and speaking from my own experiences there are still a number of other things that helped to keep their bellies full during times when money was more than tight.

For today’s recipe I will be using the ever cheap can of tuna, in making Cheesy Tuna Melts.

Ingredients that are needed for two open face sandwiches will be as follows.

1 Can of tuna

2 slices of Bread

1 tbsp of Mayonase

2 tbsp of Ranch Dressing

¼ cup of chopped Celery

2 tbsps of Parmesan Cheese

2 slices of Tomato

2 slices of Swiss Cheese

1 tbsp of Honey Mustard

Turn on your oven and set it to 350 degrees this will come in handy at a later point.

Start out by getting a small to medium sized bowel and then empty the can of tuna into said bowl. Now add the Ranch Dressing, Parmesan Cheese, Honey Mustard and the Celery to the Tuna and mix it all together by use of a fork.

Slather the Mayonase onto the two slices of bread evenly on one side, then on the mayo side place the slice of tomato. The next step is to put half of the Tuna mixture on top of the tomato on each of the bread slices, and then top them both off with the swiss slices. Once this is complete place both the open face sandwiches onto a baking tray and place in the oven for 15 min.

Once the cheese is all melty on top they arready to serve and devour, so Enjoy. This dish is very salty and I find it best to serve with a side of something sweeter like a healthy choice of fruit.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Tablespoon of Geek: Back to School - Chicken Strip Ichiban

For this post I will start by apologizing for not posting “A Tablespoon of Geek” last Thursday as I had promised. My life schedule was not reasonable enough to give me a chance to type up a recipe blog let alone get a chance to post it. Right now is my first good chance to get this post done and up and I am taking full advantage of the time.

Being that it is the month of September I thought it would be best to do a series of recipes relating to college food staples. Since this is the month of back to school season I thought it only appropriate to take those cheap foods and enhance them. Life is all about getting creative and turning mundane things into beautiful things and cheap food is no exception.

So far I have shown my methods for improving Kraft Dinner by turning it into a casserole and how to make Elvis’ favorite PB&B with a sweet twist. Next up on the cheap food list is the all time classic fall back for starving and broke students, Instant Noodles. Ichiban is a food staple found in dorm rooms across the globe due to it being quick and easy to prepare and today I am going to amp it up a bit.

This is my Chicken Strip Ichiban

You will need:

1 package of chicken flavored Ichiban

2 Chicken Strips

½ can of kernel corn drained

¼ cup of green onion chopped

½ a stalk of broccoli cut

Salt, Pepper and other spices to taste

Step one in this recipe is to heat the oven according to the instructions for the Chicken Strips and follow the instructions to make said chicken. Once the timer on the stove, for the chicken strips, is down to 7 minutes start boiling the water for the Ichiban follow those instructions to make. When you add the noodles to the boiling water also add the Green Onion, Broccoli and the Corn to cook them as well.

The instructions for the Ichiban call for the chicken powder to be added once the noodles are soft but I like to add it before that. When adding the stock powder this is the time to also add any extra spices that you have to give this meal some kick. By this time the chicken strips should be done cooking and removed from the oven, cut the chicken into bite size portions and add to the soup.

There are lots of other veggies that work with this simple dorm room recipe from snap peas to baby corn, whatever is cheapest. Hope you enjoy and I will be adding another edition of “Tablespoon of Geek” later this week.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Tablespoon of Geek: Back to School, Fried PBB Sandwich

It is week two of September and with the month of September that brings the back to school season. So many people are going back to school and if you are in post secondary and trying to make it on your own then that means that money is a little tight. Last week when I did my tablespoon of geek post I said that for this whole month I would be using a college food source staple.

My choice of college food staple for a base in my last cooking post was the ever classic Kraft Dinner. For this week I am going to be using as a base one of my favorite foods from when I was in college. Most of my breakfasts from my stint in post secondary consisted of the ever simple Peanut Butter on Toast.

So my recipe this week is Fried Peanut Butter and Banana

The measurements on this recipe are to taste.

½ a banana sliced

Peanut butter

Honey

Two slices of bread

Cinnamon

This is pretty simple recipe step one spread Peanut Butter evenly on one side of both pieces of the Slices of Bread. Next evenly distribute the Banana on one of the pieces of bread on the side with the Peanut Butter. Once you have evenly distributed the banana on the peanut butter spread some Honey to taste on top of the placed banana. Put the two slices of bread together with the peanut butter sides facing towards each other.

Bring a skillet with cooking oil up to temperature on the stove then place the sandwich on, sprinkle the face up side with the Cinnamon and flip it over. Sprinkle Cinnamon on the side now facing upwards and flip, continue to flip until both sides are browned to your liking and serve.

This is a really tasty and easy to make breakfast, it only takes a total of 10 min to make one sandwich. I am sure that this is the kind of recipe that Elvis Presley would gladly enjoy, it is a well known fact fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches were His Favorite.

Sincerely Urban Yeti

Tablespoon of Geek: Back to School Beefy KD Casserole

Good Day all it is the first week of September and for many that means one thing, it is time to go back to school. Not for me this year however but my Wifey will be beginning her long journey to acquire her Bachelor of Commerce. As a student trying to better yourself budgets can be very tight and thus will spend a lot of time eating the same cheap food.

While I was in the tail end of my college career I pretty much lived on Kraft Dinner Macaroni & Cheese. The easy to make cheesy noodle dish quickly became the main staple of my post secondary diet.

I decided with all the people going back to school this month I would take one of the college food staples and make a recipe with it.

So here is my Beefy KD Casserole:

First thing as always let us get some supplies, for this recipe you will need….

1 lb of ground beef

1 cup of Tomato Paste

1 Cup of Cherry Tomatoes Halved

1 ½ Cup of Yellow Onion Chopped

¼ of a Red Pepper Chopped

1 Clove of garlic Crushed

3 Cups of Mozzarella

1 Cup of Parmesan

2 Boxes of KD

Salt pepper and other spices of your choosing

This will make 8 servings that can be stored and eaten throughout a week or frozen for a later date.

Before we start any of the cooking steps turn your oven on to bake setting at 350 degrees

The First step in the process is to make the Kraft Dinner macaroni as instructed on the side of the box. Hopefully you have made Mac & Cheese at least once before in your life before doing this if not it is really easy. Everyone has a different method for making KD my Wifey likes extra butter whereas I like to use extra Milk. Once done put this aside on an element set to a low simmer.

Next take a large skillet a bring up to heat with some cooking oil in it, once the skillet is up to heat then add the Ground Beef. Cook and turn for a little bit until the meat has started to brown a little bit, once browning has begun add the Tomato Paste and mix in. The paste will begin to boil and the meat will continue the browning process at this point add in the Yellow Onion, Red Pepper, Cherry Tomatoes and Garlic. Keep mixing things so that everything has a chance to cook thoroughly and while this is happening add in Salt, Pepper and Other Spices.

Once the meat is cooked properly you will need to move the skillet off of the element and place to the side. At this point in the entire process you will need to get ready a medium sized Casserole dish to put everything in, it is best to coat the sides of the dish with oil for later. Next take the cooked meat part and place half of it at the bottom of the casserole dish, this will be the first layer. Next put half of the prepared Kraft Dinner goes on top of the meat to make the next layer, make sure that with each layer you spread it out evenly to the edges of the dish. Alright so the next layer is where you take the cheeses and distribute them ½ cup of Parmesan and 1 and a ½ cups of Mozzarella spread to the edges. There are another three layers in the order of the last of the meat followed by the rest of the Kraft Dinner and then top it all off with the remaining cheeses.

Place the dish and all of its contents into the preheated oven to bake for a measly 10 min.

After that timer of yours dings and you remove the dish from the oven you are going to have to wait 5 minutes. Let it cool down so you don’t burn your tongue.

Now cut it into portions and serve it out, like I said this makes a lot it can serve up to eight people. I stored a bunch in my deep freeze to eat at a later date or for an emergency lunch on the go if I need it.

I hope you enjoy and I plan on doing more meals from college food staples for the rest of September.

Sincerely Urban Yeti