My Italian Nana had seven children. Seven. Needless to say, she was the queen of easy recipes and delicious meals made from the leftover scraps of last night’s dinner.

Now, I’m pretty sure none of you people have 7 kids, but you do have a full course-load and weekends spent laying in bed watching TV. Yeah, you’re busy and there’s not much time to cook, which means my Nana’s recipes are perfect for your college life.

And the best/easiest/warms-your-tummy from-the-inside-out recipe: Nana’s Turkey Tetrazzini. It sounds fancy, and tastes fancy, but it’s super easy (got a bowl and a spoon? You’re good to go) and quick to make (open, pour, mix, cook). And it can be made vegetarian! Just take out the turkey.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp chopped celery
2 Tbsp chopped black olives ( I put in lots more)
1 and a half to 2 cups cooked turkey (or chicken!), cut in pieces
8-12 oz cooked pasta, like spaghetti
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup water or chicken broth
¼ cup white wine or sherry, if desired (and who wouldn’t desire a little wine in their dinner…and the rest of the bottle while they make it?!)
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Bread crumbs for topping Read More »

Who doesn’t love a little Southern cooking? Fried, greasy goodness? I wouldn’t trust someone who didn’t dream about it once in awhile.  And better yet, who doesn’t love a little Southern dessert? There is nothing. better. on earth. (I love you, Paula Dean!)

This recipe comes from my best friend’s mother, Mrs. D, a Southern mom who doesn’t have time to bake like all those other mommas.  These Oreo Balls are easy, quick and delicious, which is perfect for the college girl with a sweet tooth. You’ll need zero to no cooking experience or talent, so don’t fret if you’re not Betty Crocker. Hell, you don’t even need a full kitchen; you can make these balls of heaven right in your dorm room.

There are a lot of different recipes for Oreo Balls out there, but, again, I’m sticking with Mrs. D on this one. That woman totally knows her shiz. Read More »

Are you a procrastinator? Did you forgo the gym all week to cram for that Chem final and now you’re freaking about putting on a bathing suit this Saturday!? Unlike academics, getting a beach body cannot be achieved by pulling an all-nighter. However, lucky for you there are a few tips and tricks that will provide you with a quick fix to looking fabulous.

Any Pilates enthusiast will agree that this practice can tighten your tummy in just one session. Ab exercises that are inspired by the Pilates roll up will give your mid section a flatter look and you will stand taller, which creates the illusion of looking slimmer.

Try lying on your back, legs out straight. Take a deep breath in through your nose and breath out as you pull your belly button towards your spine. Repeat, but this time when you breathe out peel your head off the ground and then – one vertebra at a time, keeping your tummy pulled inward – lift all the way up and over, rounding your back out as you reach the top. This is known as the Pilates Roll Up and to watch how it’s done, check out this video. Done regularly, your stomach will look like amazing every day. Do this move 20x before you hit the beach (yes the very same day) for some fABulous results. Read More »

I am not a vegetarian, but I really don’t care much for meat. I will eat chicken or ground beef a few times a week, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me if I go all veggie, all the time for a while.

Lately, it’s been so freaking hot where I live (hello, summer) that I don’t even want to turn on the stove for 30 seconds, let alone the oven. Remembering an awesome avocado and egg sandwich that I once had at a New York City deli, I devised this AMAZING veggie wrap.

You need: one wrap tortilla, half a fresh avocado, half a small tomato, one hard-boiled egg, one carrot, a couple tablespoons of cheese (type is up to you), a tiny bit of Miracle Whip, a tiny bit of pesto sauce, a tiny bit of honey mustard, and sprinkles of salt and pepper. Read More »

Bet you didn’t know that:

• Spraying your oven with water will make your bread crisp and brown. Getting a nice crust on homemade bread is tricky, but steam is the key. Fill a clean spray bottle with water, then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the oven right after you pop in the bread. You can also create steam by warming up a pan in the oven and then dumping a little bit of cold water in the pan as you start to bake the bread.

• You can make better rice by rinsing it. Most types of rice contain excess starch, so if you think ahead a little bit, you can get far better-tasting rice. Soak the amount of rice you’re using in clean, cold water for 20 minutes before cooking it. When it’s done soaking, drain it and rinse it thoroughly a few times. The result: a less sticky, nicer-tasting batch of rice.

• Stainless steel will get rid of garlicky fingers. If you’ve been chopping and chopping cloves of garlic and your fingers have the scent to prove it, rub them for a minute on the side of a stainless steel knife or the bend of a stainless steel faucet. Use some muscle! Then lather up with soap and wash your hands normally. When you’re finished, that garlic smell should be almost totally gone.

[Image courtesy of 4hisglory.wordpress.com]

Mmmmmm. If you like regular tomatoes, I personally guarantee that you will REALLY like baked tomatoes. If you’ve never tried them before, you are seriously missing out.

For one person, one small- to medium-sized tomato is plenty. You’ll also need some basil (fresh or dried), salt, pepper, a bit of olive oil, and a couple of tablespoons of parmesan cheese.

Cut out the hard upper center of the tomato and then cut the tomato either lengthwise or widthwise into slices that are between ¼” and ½” thick. Preheat the oven to 400, then arrange the tomato slices at the bottom of an 8”x8” square pan. Sprinkle them with a dash of salt, a little pepper, and some basil (fresh is best) to taste. Drizzle the tomatoes with the olive oil, and top them with the parmesan cheese.

Then pop those suckers in the oven and bake them for about 15 minutes. You’ll probably drool when you take them out, so be prepared!

Smoothies are the ultimate food. They’re packed with vitamins and nutrients, they give you energy, and they taste AWESOME. If you’re pressed for time, a big smoothie makes a great breakfast or lunch, and it really fills you up and keeps you full for a while.

You might think a blender is essential for successful smoothie making, but I’ve used my food processor on countless occasions and been just fine. Until recently, I believed that the Perfect Smoothie was strawberry-banana, with a thick (though not lumpy) texture and a little yogurt and milk thrown in for good measure.

Two days ago, though, I discovered a new Perfect Smoothie, and I am now convinced that nothing can beat it. It is criminal that I should keep this new recipe to myself, so I am sharing it with CC’s readership so that every one of you can also make yourselves delirious with enjoyment over this particular smoothie.

It’s easy: you just need one banana, half a mango (peeled and roughly chopped), a little over half a cup of milk, a tablespoon of heavy cream, half a teaspoon of sugar, and one ice cube. Read More »

So, the Food Guide Pyramid. What was the last update it gave us? Three to five servings of veggies per day?

Ha, ha, ha. I’m laughing all the way to the grocery store.

No, seriously, though, that’s a lot of vegetables. And it’s not that I don’t like vegetables—it’s just that I don’t really eat them. I can eat about ten zillion servings of fruit per day, but when it comes to vegetables… I feel like a small child sometimes because I have to sneak them into my own food. I mean, who does that?

Maybe you will after trying this awesome homemade mac and cheese. Read More »

At least once a week, I find myself with less than a half-hour window to make and eat dinner. I guess I could just grab a sandwich or some Chinese takeout or something, but I have this annoying insistence that most of what I eat taste delicious and have recognizable ingredients. Yeah, I know, I’m a tough customer.

Since there’s no way I’d have time on those days to do more than punch a few buttons on the microwave or set the dial on the oven, I rely on three staple dinners that I can freeze and pop out of the freezer whenever I want. I usually make giant batches of each and then separate them into single portions that I can easily grab from the icicles. Read More »

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 »