I decided a good option for a starter recipe was one that has ingredients that I am used to and know I enjoy, and this is why I chose the sweet potato quinoa salad. To start the recipe I adjusted a few of the ingredients to my liking, instead of frozen corn I added frozen green beans and also for more vegetable fun I put carrots in. All of the vegetables were combined with quinoa and vegetable broth and then put in the oven. This salad was initially very easy to make, literally just cut and combine everything into a casserole dish raw and then cook, HOWEVER, that was not my situation… It ended up taking over an hour and 45 minutes to cook the salad enough so that the yams were soft and the quinoa had absorbed all the broth and I ended up eventually just giving up since it was 10 pm on a school night. As far as taste, the salad did quite amazing, however, not amazing enough to be worth the over 2-hour prep and cooking time. I think that next time I will try using the frozen corn and maybe experiment a little with the spices until I am satisfied, the volume of salad made was also quite extreme and I think next time I will only make a half portion of the meal. In all, I think I’ll give the recipe 3.5 stars out of 5 since I feel bad judging too early.

Today was recipe day for me and to make this post less chaotic and more able to follow I will sort the recipes I have found and chosen into categories. This post will be regarding dinners! I find that when it comes to dinner I end up making the same 4 main courses: a teriyaki stirfry, butter chicken, pasta with a jar sauce, then my frozen veggie dinners… I know pretty sad. This is why I am beginning my journey to better and more impressive meals.

So here we begin, potential dinner options:

Smoked sausage rice fry

Retrieved from  https://cookplus.info/sausage-pepper-and-rice-skillet.html

I chose this recipe as potential because I frankly never cook with rice or sausage yet these are two things I happen to LOVE. Another thing that entices me about this recipe is that it contains a lot of spices that I haven’t experimented with, now I know these are all very common spices and it’s kinda pathetic that I haven’t cooked with them but hey I am just a taco seasoning kinda girl who is ready to change her ways.

Fancy broccoli Ramen

Retrieved from  https://nataliakitchenblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/beef-and-brocolli-ramen.html

I chose this recipe because its base is a simple ramen noodle mix but is enhanced by different spices and aswell with protein and vegetables. It should be pretty straightforward to make and will end up being both lunch and dinner.

Oven baked chicken

Retrieved from https://www.recipetineats.com/oven-baked-chicken-breast/ So here is a fun fact, yours truly has never in her life cooked a piece of raw chicken because well its kinda gross, kinda sketchy and you know you could die if you contaminate your other food… I know that seems dramatic but it is the actual reason why I haven’t cooked it before. SO in these blogs, my goal is to finally attempt to cook a piece of chicken and I chose to make this yummy honey garlic one because well frankly it looks incredible!!!

Spinach and ricotta stuffed shells

Retrieved from  https://www.forkknifeswoon.com/spinach-and-ricotta-stuffed-shells/

Ok so the inspiration behind these beautiful stuffed shells is from one of my close friends making this very dinner and I couldn’t help but admire how scrumptious yet simple they were! This will also be my first time working with ricotta cheese so I look forward to how the cheese process actually works.

Now we will move on to lunch options:

Chicken wraps

Retrieved from  https://dinnersdishesanddesserts.com/crunchy-southwestern-chicken-wrap/

A chicken wrap is a great filling and healthy meal to have for lunchtime and brings me back to memories of high school cafeteria Thai chili wraps. To enhance this meal I would add some Thai chili sauce instead of the sour cream and I believe it would taste just like highschool!

Sweet potato quinoa salad

Retrieved from  https://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/sweet-potato-black-bean-quinoa-bake/

I have always loved having a nice hearty salad to have in my lunches as it lasts me for my long library days until finally, I get to go home for dinner. This salad combines 3 of my favourite things into one, yams, beans and quinoa! I look forward to experimenting with the spices in this recipe since I have never used these with my yam recipes (usually just use my taco seasoning). I also think that it will be interesting using vegetable broth as my liquid base for the quinoa instead of water.

Copy cat Costco sweet kale salad

Retrieved from  https://barefeetinthekitchen.com/sweet-kale-salad-recipe

This recipe is an almost identical version of everyone’s beloved Costco or Save on Foods kale salad, however, it is made with probably a lot more natural ingredients. I have never made my own salad dressing before so I am excited to see if I can re-enact the sweet tasty poppy seed one of the usual pre-mixed bags.

Black bean quesadilla

Retrieved from  https://foodrecipes.yukemari.info/roasted-sweet-potato-and-black-bean-quesadillas-recipe.html

This is a great lunch idea because I personally do not enjoy spending hours cooking my meals and let’s face it quesadillas are dead easy! I am excited about this recipe because it upgrades my usual ham and cheese quesadilla recipe to one that is much more flavourful and more filling!

Barbecue chicken pizza

Retrieved from  https://bluebowlrecipes.com/our-favorite-barbecue-chicken-pizza/

I used to love making homemade pizza all the time with my mom but let’s be honest no ones got time to legitimately make the dough… that’s why if I were to make this recipe I would simply just copy the condiments and toppings they chose and skip the complex pizza dough and just get my own pre-cooked crust!

Its breakfast time!

Breakfast burrito

Retrieved from  https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a24569400/breakfast-burrito-recipe/

Now I am gonna be very honest right now I am a very traditional breakfast type of person, I enjoy my egg, bagel, and cheese every morning (honestly I look forward to it) and on special occasions, you can see me eating crepes or bennys, but honestly that’s about it. So these recipes I have chosen might not ever see the light of day during the school year but at Christmas break or reading break, you’ll see me whipping them out. The first recipe is this yummy easy-to-go breakfast burrito

Egg muffins

Retrieved from https://www.sixsistersstuff.com/recipe/scrambled-egg-breakfast-muffins/

Ok, so these first of all are just the cutest little breakfast bites I have ever seen and are also pure genius! I make an egg every single morning and I know for a fact it takes in total for my whole meal 7 minutes to make, BUT with these fun little breaky items I literally have to maybe double my usual prep time ONCE and then every time after I can just go to the fridge and get one of these guys. What is also great about these is that it really doesn’t matter the recipe, honestly, I can just put in and add whatever I want to get the perfect scrambled egg muffin!

The good, the bad, and the ugly sweets…

Chocolate chip cookies

Retrieved from  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/

What is better than your basic chocolate chip cookies? That’s right nothing is better. This is comfort food at the next level and is honestly the only appropriate treat to indulge in because you yourself have to put the effort into making them (which makes it harder to binge). To find this recipe I just looked up THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES and this is what I got, we’ll see if the past the true test of “the best”

Photo by Jakub Kapusnak

“How can a student on a budget enjoy more diverse food in her meals while continually trying to maintain her busy lifestyle?  -Kirby Jarvis

Hi, I am a poor, trying to be healthy student who wants to spice up her food life with more unique and exotic recipes (that are easy enough for a beginner chef like myself to make). This portion of my blogging website will consist of me doing a multitude of things:
1. Finding recipes
2. Budgeting for the ingredients needed
3. Buying the ingredients
4. Making the recipes
5. Assessing taste

This reason I chose this inquiry project is that it affects me first hand and is an area of education that I have not yet explored, and it will also leave an imprint on me as in I will continue to make the recipes I find and learn the skills to cooking, budgeting, and mostly gaining more time management skills. At the end of these blogs and this year, I hope that my taste buds will experience an abundance of yummy foods and that in all my lifestyle will change from preparing the same boring 3 meals a day to an assortment of flavourful, mouthwatering cuisine.