Untouched Pasta Salad

Pasta is one of those foods that taste better the next day. I am pretty sure that you thought that you made enough pasta for your meal and before you know it there is a large amount untouched. There is always hope for untouched pasta. I came up with a great solution to any untouched pasta. Pasta salad is an easy meal to prepare and use for multiple side dishes or dinners.

It is always a good to stock up on pasta when it goes on sale at your local grocery story. Like I mentioned above, I made more pasta then I wanted to eat at one sitting. Instead of just adding tomato sauce to the pasta and refrigerating it, I tossed Italian dressing in it instead. I had some extra vegetables in the refrigerator  that I needed to eat and I figured a good way to use them was to make a pasta salad. First I diced up about a half a cup of  onion and half of a green pepper. Since I love garlic, I minced three cloves of garlic and added it to the onion and pepper mixture. Next I added shredded sharp cheddar, mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese with my house blend of seasoning to the vegetable mixture. Lastly, I combined the pasta with the vegetable mixture to complete my untouched pasta salad.

Honestly, this was my first time making pasta salad and in my opinion, it's a winner. Of course there are many different variations of pasta salad, so feel free to add any other vegetables to it or take away any to suit your taste.

Fresh and Easy BLT

With the demands of everyday living; sometimes there isn't enough time for a healthy meal It's a classic sandwich that is easy and quick to prepare for lunch or dinner. Who doesn't love a BLT?  My version of the BLT is very similar to the original; bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo.

I modified the BLT for those who don't like mayo and want extra fiber to go along with it. I discovered a better tasting bread that has half the fat of white bread and is only 40 calories per slice. I recommend Pepperidge Farm's Light Style Extra Fiber Wheat because of the nutritional benefits and it tastes better then regular white bread. The first thing you want to do is cook up three slices of smoked bacon in a skillet. While that is cooking, slice up a tomato and wash up a large piece of lettuce. It doesn't matter what kind of tomato or type of lettuce you chose. When the bacon has about two minutes left to cook, toast two pieces of bread. After the bacon and bread are finished, place the bread on your plate. Next, take two slices of butter and spread them on both inside slices of toast. The next ingredient is no surprise and it adds a nice flavor to your BLT; garlic powder. Sprinkle the garlic powder on both sides of the toast and then add the bacon. This way your butter will melt from the bacon and the toast. The last step is to add the tomato slices and lettuce to sandwich.

There's my version of a classic sandwich. Feel free to experiment with your food because there's nothing worse then boring food.

Another Great Untouched Chicken Dinner

There's nothing like thinking back to your childhood and remembering how your parents used to make dinner. I remember eating basic dinners like fried pork chops and roast beef, but there is a classic chicken dish that will always stand out in my mind. My mom  made an awesome baked chicken paprika and we usually ate that meal at least once a week. This dish is very easy to make and it can be made from a previous untouched chicken dish.

Simplicity is something that I strive for everyday and your meals should follow that as well. You can start preparing this meal within the same hour that you plan to eat it. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and gather my basic spice blend, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.  The only extra spice that you'll need is smoked paprika and this adds a nice touch of heat to your meat.You can use any part of the bird for this recipe but I recommend using thighs for a shorter cooking time. Place the chicken in a glass baking pan or on a metal sheet pan. Season the meat and cook for approximately 45 minutes or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. It is important that the meat reaches that temperature; trust me that having salmonella poisoning is not fun. While your chicken bakes, you can prepare your side dishes. I like to prepare a vegetable and a starch; feel free to add or omit one or the other. I love peas so I always have a can or two of peas in my cupboard and those noodles and sauce packages are good to have on hand as well. Normally the noodles and sauce sides take around 10 minutes or so and the peas take around 5 minutes. If you time it right, you can have the chicken and your sides done at the same time.

It doesn't get more basic then that. This whole meal will cost you under 10 bucks and will taste amazing.

An Awesome Untouched Vegetarian Dish

I know that its been a while since my last post, I do apologize for absence. I have been thinking of different vegetarian dishes to go along with my blog theme and I found one that you all should enjoy. I came up with this dish because I didn't want to spent a bunch of money on take-out Thai food.

I venture down the ethnic food isle about once a month to look at different sauces and spices that could enhance my dishes. I found this Thai chili sauce in the Asian food section and figured that this would be a good investment. I spent around four dollars and change on a 9.3 oz jar and it lasts for a good amount of time. The great thing about this sauce is that its not too spicy and it adds a nice kick to your dishes with only a tablespoon. The ingredients for this dish are very inexpensive: white rice, baby spinach, chopped garlic, sliced white mushrooms and scallions. One of the highlights of this dish is the amount of time it takes from prep to the table; 25 minutes if that. I cook rice a little differently than most people because I found that my way is quicker and I don't have to worry about the starch of the rice boiling over on the stove. All I do is measure my rice, 1/3 cup per person and serving, and use the 2/1 ratio of water and rice.  I leave the lid off of the pot and leave the burner on a medium/high heat. It is always important to season your rice because rice will take on the flavor of the seasoning that you put in it. Make sure that your rice is cooking before any other preparation because it still takes the longest in this dish. While the rice is cooking, heat up a medium skillet with some olive oil  or whatever oil that is on hand. Wash and slice your mushrooms and scallions and chop your fresh garlic or use a tablespoon of minced garlic. When the pan is hot, put the mushrooms, scallions and garlic in the pan. It's important to saute the mushrooms first because they take the longest out of vegetables to cook and the garlic will burn if it is in the pan too long. After the mushrooms, scallions and garlic are mostly cooked, add the spinach in the last few minutes along with a tablespoon of the Thai chili sauce. Spinach takes the least amount of cook time and you want to make sure that it still retains some texture. After the vegetables and rice are done cooking, place the rice on your plate or bowl with the vegetable mixture on top.

This dish is quick, healthy and very easy to prepare. Another thing to point out is that this dish will give you the feeling of hunger satisfaction and will not leave you feeling stuffed.

Untouched Chicken Soup

It maybe spring but there are some cool days leftover from the winter season and making homemade soups can turn those days into pleasant ones. There's nothing better than homemade chicken soup on one of those cool days.

I bought some chicken breasts a few months ago, besides my whole chickens, and I decided to make a chicken soup out of it. These chicken breasts in particular were quite big and I know that I can definitely make more then one meal out of it.  I cut the breast in half and cut it into cubes for my soup. I love more vegetables in my meals rather than proteins so my recipe is more veggie friendly. I heated up a large pot or a dutch oven on the stove with some olive oil and browned my chicken cubes in it. Seasoned the meat with my basic seasoning blend and added some chopped scallions, or green onions to the meat. Scallions are usually cheaper then whole onions in most cases and I like their mild flavor in soups. While the meat and scallions are browning, I chopped up some whole button mushrooms and baby carrots. Since I love peas, I could not resist putting in a small can of them for this soup. Whether they are canned or frozen, peas are a great addition to soups or casseroles. Right before adding the remainder of the vegetables, I added some minced garlic and 2 cups of chicken stock. Garlic gives any dish a great flavor but I always add more garlic then most because you can never have too much garlic in your diet. After adding the rest of my ingredients, I added some thyme and garlic powder to the pot. I simmered the soup for about an hour and a half before I added a roux to thicken it up a bit.

About ten minutes before I served the soup, I boiled some water for egg noodles and spinach for the soup. I recommend cooking rice or noodles separately when making a soup because the starches suck up the broth of your soup. Fresh spinach always makes a great addition to soups or eating it my itself is good as well. The noodles and the spinach went into a bowl and two ladles of my homemade chicken soup went on top.

One of the most tastiest chicken soups that I have ever made and it didn't cost that much to make it. I bought the mushrooms, scallions, chicken stock, and minced garlic all for under ten bucks. The chicken breasts were sold in a pack of five and it was around $15. You can easily make this meal any day of the week and have untouched foods for another day. I had enough soup for another dinner or large lunch for later on this week.

Untouched Ground Beef

 Normally people only think of ground beef when you say ground meat. Beef is one of the cheapest ground meats but you can also purchase ground chicken, pork or turkey; just to name a few. Like chicken, beef is another one of those meats that can be used to make countless dishes and served in many different ways.

In this post I will tell you how to make some great seasoned ground beef for a few different dinners. My first meal I made some tacos. I bought some ground beef, 80% meat to 20% fat, and cooked it a skillet. I used my basic seasoning blend, salt, black pepper,and garlic powder. In my previous post, I explained that my basic seasoning blend can be used for any and all dishes. To make the meat taste like a traditional Mexican taco, I added some cumin, hot sauce, cayenne pepper and paprika. If you don't like spicy foods, then I would recommend taking out the cayenne pepper and hot sauce and substituting them for a few red pepper flakes and tomato sauce. I always add tomato sauce to my taco meat for the extra flavor but it's only optional. I heated up a few soft tortillas and added a third cup of rice for my complete dinner. Since I made the entire package of ground beef, I knew that there was going to be some untouched foods.

The seasoned ground meat can be used for about two more dinners this week. I can make another taco dinner and I can make a quick version of beef stroganoff. The trick to making a quick beef stroganoff is to have a can of cream of mushroom soup on hand. Heat up your untouched beef in a skillet and add a can of cream of mushroom soup to the meat. While the meat mixture is cooking, boil some water for some noodles. You can use any kind of noodle or you can even use rice. After the meat is cooked, add the cooked meat to the noodles or rice. It may not be your typical beef stroganoff, but it tastes just as good as beef stroganoff from scratch.

Untouched Chicken Dinner

 There are so many things you can do with untouched chicken and don't let anyone tell you that chicken is boring. Chicken can be boring if you prepare the same couple of ways every time, but if you cook it differently and season it differently every time,and then you'll never get tired of chicken. My last post explained how and where to buy your groceries. I used chicken as an example in the previous post because it is one of the most popular meats that people consume. This post will show you all a few different ways to cook a whole chicken and use the untouched portions in a variety of other ways.

I went to the nearest grocery store and purchased two whole chickens. Both birds were priced fewer then five bucks and I'll be able to make at least five meals out of them. I cut up the first bird into eight equal parts; 2 wings, thighs, drumsticks, and breasts. Most people think that cutting up a whole chicken is this big and complicated process; it's not. All you need is a sharp chef knife or butcher knife and a few freezer bags. The key to separating the chicken is to cut through the joints of the bird. I'll go more into detail about utilizing a whole chicken in another post but this is all you will need at this time. After I separated the chicken into eighths , I placed them into two freezer bags for another meal.

I left the second bird whole and decided to cook it. I recommend using a basic blend of seasonings because you can always add more savory or spice to your meals at a later time. My basic blend is garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Those three spices will add a decent amount of flavor to any meat or dish. Another thing to note is that those three spices won't conflict with any herbs or potent spices. One of the best things about cooking a whole chicken is knowing that you'll have untouched food.

 I split the bird in half and gave the other half to my brother for his dinner. I ate the wing and thigh with two other sides for my dinner that night. I used the breast meat for two other dinners later on that week.The two other dinners that I prepared were BBQ pulled chicken and pulled chicken with snow peas and mashed potatoes. I will add pictures of these meals at a later time but use your imagination until then.

Remember that I only spent around four dollars for a whole chicken and made five chicken dinners with it. It was five because I gave the other half of that chicken to my brother and he had two meals out of his portion. Normally a package of chicken breasts or thighs would have cost you about five or six dollars and only would give you one or two dinners. With that said  buying a whole chicken is well worth the extra effort then buying the cut up and packaged chicken.

Purchasing potential untouched foods

It's time to do the grocery shopping for this week. Instead of dreading this weekly or monthly trip; think of it as a great way to buy future untouched foods. Choosing what grocery store to shop at can make or break your wallet.


 I recommend going to the food market during the least busiest times of the day; during the first few hours of opening, between 2-4 pm and during the last few hours before closing. These are the best times to do your shopping because most people have either already done their shopping or didn't venture out yet. I must mention that this advice should only be taken during the Week Days. Weekends are the busiest times for most retail businesses, including grocery stores. However, the majority of weekend shoppers tend to get their shopping done as early as possible or anytime during those two days.  


When it comes to buying in bulk or shopping at the dollar store, choose those items wisely. Of course there are some items that you can't get at one store, but always try to find all of your items at the same store. I will use chicken as an example of where to buy it. Chicken can be purchased at the local bulk warehouse store or your typical grocery store. Whether you purchase the prepackaged chicken or fresh from the butcher, you'll receive a better deal if you buy the whole chicken at the local grocery store. True that cutting up a chicken takes more time, but it will save you a few extra dollars. Grocers will often charge more money for the cut up chicken rather then the whole chicken. With that said, it is better to buy the whole chicken at a typical grocery store. Another example would be where to buy milk. All food markets carry milk and offer similar prices for the amount that you want to purchase. This may shock you all, but buying milk at the local bulk warehouse is cheaper then buying it anywhere else. This is where the common saying about saving more in bulk is true. The thing  is that it's the same milk that you would buy anywhere else, but for less money. I am not saying that is the only way to save money on milk. The next best place to buy milk is the dollar store or a store like Save-A- Lot. If you don't have a membership for these bulk warehouse stores: Sam's Club, BJ's or Costco, they are easy to sign up for and will save you money in the near future.

I hope this gives you all a better perspective on when and where you should buy your groceries. Being a member to one of those bulk warehouse stores can save you some money on basic items such as milk and butter. It's not completely necessary to have those memberships because you can save money at the dollar store and the local food market. The coming posts will show you what foods to buy and how to utilize them to their fullest potential. 

What are Untouched Foods?

           What's the first thing that you think of when you hear the word leftover? You may think of the nasty concoctions that your parents made you eat when you were a kid or perhaps a modified version of last night's dinner. For most people, it's not a positive thought. Leftovers or untouched foods as I like to call them, have a bad reputation. Most people don't realize that untouched foods can taste just as good or better then the first dish. With busy schedules, kids and a social life, there isn't much time or love for leftovers. As a person with a non 9-5 schedule, I know that eating a healthy and cheap meal for that matter is something that takes some time and thought. There are a few steps that every person should take when you they go to the grocery store; steps that will save you time and money in the near future.  Here's a little taste of whats to come; buying in bulk is not always that best way to save money on meals.This blog should help anyone who is either too busy to cook, too lazy to cook, or just doesn't know what to do with their leftover foods.