I was born and raised in Seattle, but moved to Chicago in November of 2008 because... it wasn't Seattle, and I felt like I had outgrown the city. Currently, I'm a freelance fashion editor and blogger at The Demoiselles and Broke & Beautiful - both fashion-related websites. We started this blog because we are constantly challenging ourselves to prepare delicious, healthy, and cheap meals in our tiny, studio apartment kitchen. Not only will it keep us in check, but give us a great place to show off and categorize all our recipes!
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Marinated Beet Salad
By Lindsay
Posted in Challenging Entree, Featured, Sides, Vegetarian on 10 January 2010
Stats: 552 views and 2 Comments

Ever since we stopped at Central Market in Shoreline, WA for a quick bite, we’ve been craving something beet-y. The salad we had was a sweet-but-bold mix of beets, herbs, and vinaigrette. We set out to duplicate it, many times over, and we think we did a pretty good job.

Caesar Salad
By Lindsay
Posted in Easy Entree, Sides on 31 October 2009
Stats: 579 views and 2 Comments

Good With: Meat of most kinds, pasta, soup, sandwiches…
Prep Time: <5 minutes
Cook Time: N/A
Cost: Less than $1 per serving
Makes 2 Servings
Conor makes fun of me because I enjoy a good Caesar Salad. Well, he makes fun of me for constantly ordering it (it’s my staple fallback if nothing else looks good!), because it [...]

Drinking With TV: Glee #8
By Lindsay
Posted in Featured, The Sweet Trade on 31 October 2009
Stats: 1,066 views and 2 Comments

We’ve decided that formulaic television programming isn’t just for making fun of anymore – it’s an excuse to drink beer.
…When you make it into a drinking game, anyway.
Our first subject was the high-school-based comedy-romantic-drama-satire, Glee. Here’s the result:

Brewer’s Yeast, Rice & Cheese
By Lindsay
Posted in Easy Entree, Vegetarian on 17 September 2009
Stats: 689 views and No Comments

Good With: Salad, Chicken dishes, Stand Alone
Prep Time: <5 minutes
Cook Time: 35-45 minutes
Cost: <$1.00 per serving
Growing up in a poor household and raised by two hippies, this dish was a staple of my upbringing. Extremely cheap and easy to make, but packing a flavorful and healthy punch, it’s something I’ve never stopped [...]

Chilaquiles
By Lindsay
Posted in Challenging Entree, Vegetarian on 17 September 2009
Stats: 947 views and 2 Comments

Good With: Chips & Salsa, Pico de Gallo, Bean dishes
Prep Time: >10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Cost: About 66¢ per serving
After we had chilaquiles at a Chicago mexican restaurant called El Jardin (The Garden), we knew we wanted to try to make it. It’s a great way to use up extra tortillas, cheese [...]

White Goat Pasta
By Lindsay
Posted in Easy Entree, Vegetarian on 14 July 2009
Stats: 1,913 views and 2 Comments

Good With: Lettuce based salads, Garlic Bread, Pepper Bread
Prep Time: < 5 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Cost: $1.25 per serving
Original Pirate Material
If it wasn’t apparent before, it definitely is now: we’re really into goat cheese-based pan sauces. It’s such a rich, beautiful taste… Adding in the white wine (for quick and delicious de-glazing*) doesn’t take [...]

Mujadarrah
By Lindsay
Posted in Easy Entree, Vegetarian on 4 June 2009
Stats: 693 views and 1 Comment

The lentil – a tiny nutritional bombshell that’s ready to absorb and compliment whichever flavors you have on hand. This dish incorporates one of my favorite things – caramelized onions – and doesn’t disappoint.

Fried Rice
By Lindsay
Posted in Sides, Vegetarian on 4 June 2009
Stats: 928 views and 1 Comment

Good With: Asian-flavored meat dishes, alone, soup
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Cost: About 30¢ per serving
Adapted from a recipe at Healthy Delicious

Nothing cures a hangover quite like greasy take out – we all know that. A good, shiny, slightly salty fried rice dish takes the edge off almost as well as [...]

Shopping List & Menu #2
By Lindsay
Posted in The Sweet Trade on 21 May 2009
Stats: 885 views and No Comments

This week, we really wanted to try things that we’d never done before, with ingredients that we’d never really used before. This lead us to procure some large root vegetables, assorted seeds, and lots of cheese.

Butter Garlic Gnocchi
By Lindsay
Posted in Easy Entree, Vegetarian on 21 May 2009
Stats: 315 views and 1 Comment

Gnocchi at its best, as an absorbent base for something extremely flavorful. In this case, garlic.