I’m probably one of the hardest gals to please when it comes down to what’s for lunch.

I love flavor, I need my food to be moderately healthy, not too expensive, and easy to make. I do love cooking elaborate meals, but not in the middle of the day when I’m consumed with everything else I’m doing.

So over time, a few simple lunches have worked their way into my mental cookbook, simple lunches that I’m now going to share with you! Here are four options that are delicious, easy, and relatively cheap to make, as well as healthy for you…well, healthier than Wendy’s…that’s for sure.

1. Toast whole wheat bread. Spread your favorite hummus across both pieces of the bread (I prefer using the really spicy stuff). Then add turkey or your favorite lunch meat.

2. Stuff a whole wheat wrap with avocado slices, tomato slices, and mozzarella cheese. This is AWESOME, trust me! Read More »

To me, afternoons are like a barren wasteland. They last for hours that can feel like days, and there’s no relief in sight until dinner. To silence the grumbling stomach, it’s important to have a snack sometime in the middle of those wasteland hours.

While it might seem appealing to grab a triple-shot mocha at Starbucks, that’s really not the best thing for our minds or our bodies to have (or, in many cases, our wallets). If you want a snack that scores high on both nutrition and taste, consider one of the following:

Pita with Hummus. You can buy your hummus at the store (roasted red pepper is my favorite kind), or make your own for cheap using a scaled-down version of a recipe like this one. Cut a slit in the side of your pita, shovel in a few spoonfuls of hummus, and you’re good to go.

Yogurt with Topping. It’s really easy to take a container of yogurt with you wherever you need to go, and yogurt has the added advantage of meshing well with almost any topping choice. Try tossing a few chocolate chips on top of caramel yogurt, fresh blueberries atop a carton of strawberry, or a spoonful of toasted nuts and honey on top of plain vanilla. Read More »

A few summers ago I shared an apartment with 5 other girls while we all worked on campus giving tours and orientating incoming freshmen.

I didn’t know any of them going into the summer, but by the time August rolled around we were good friends and there was a few things that had slipped into my sub-conscious:

1) Hummus and pita chips is a suitable replacement for any meal.

2) Cockroaches can find their way into your fridge if you don’t clean.

3) If you see a guy who’s totally hot, but old enough to be your dad you can slyly alert your friends to it by saying “Hog!”

What is a H.O.G.? A Hot Old Guy.

Check out the H.O.G. gallery after the jump! Read More »

If you’re anything like me (extremely poor and continuously sweaty from no AC), dinner has turned into a can of PBR, hummus and baby carrots.

The summer heat and lack of money melt my formerly creative inner cook, and even though I’m slightly decent at preparing a meal, all I can think to do is eat apples, fry eggs and drink beer.

Even worse than cooking in the summer heat is cooking for one. It’s depressing. There are always leftovers and really, who wants to make an elaborate meal if you’re the only one eating it?

Which is why I was so excited to see these 101 simple summer meals that can be prepared in 10 minutes or less.

I’m all for using fresh ingredients and keeping it healthy, but sometimes recipes that call for a dozen different fresh components just end up rotting in the fridge.

These meals, however, don’t require too much and really do spark a little creativity in the kitchen. I’m so pumped about having so many new ideas that I’m already planning how I can use my leftovers (see #89).

Here are some of my favorites: Read More »