BYOBowl: Pasta Salad

Happy Friday foodies! I don’t know about you all, but I am so ready for the weekend. For our last Bring Your Own Bowl recipe of the week I decided to make pasta salad. For this recipe you will need:

• 1 box bowtie pasta
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• ½ of a sweet onion
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 small can sliced black olives
• ½ can sweet yellow corn
• ⅛ cup white wine vinegar
• ⅛ cup apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste

First you will need to start boiling water and then cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. While the pasta is cooking, chop the peppers and onions into small pieces. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse in cold water. Dry the pasta a little and then put it into a large bowl. Add the peppers and onions to the bowl and then drain the corn and olives and add them also. Pour the oil and vinegar over the pasta salad and add a little salt and pepper for seasoning. Then toss it all together and serve. After I made this, I thought a little crumbled feta cheese might be a nice addition, so if you are looking to be adventurous, give that a try. You could also add any other vegetables that you want. This is a cheap and easy recipe that is great for a potluck or barbecue, especially in this nice weather. Enjoy your pasta salad foodies and have a great weekend!

-Kelsey-

BYOBowl: Cheesy ANYday

A classic D-hall favorite that attracts tons of JMU students each week is “cheesy Thursday.”  This weekly menu option attracts long lines of students eager to get one grilled cheese and a small bowl of soup.  You may be thinking that this is a very simple recipe… you’re right, it is. To make this recipe more interesting I have a couple of different ideas to improve the meal.  Adding croutons to the soup is the first option.  This idea came from Panera which serves its tomato soup with a handful of croutons.  The second option is to put multiple types of cheese as well as slices of tomato on your grilled cheese.

Another great reason to make this meal off campus or at home is because you will save a meal plan punch or around $9.50.  Every JMU student will admit that they wait in the grilled cheese line and beg the chef to give them two at a time. This begging almost always fails to convince him or her and they end up in the back of the line to wait again for a second grilled cheese.  At home you can cook as much as you want while also saving money. Cheesy Thursday can now be on any day of the week!

Ingredients:

• can of tomato soup
• pepper
• milk & water
• croutons
• two slices of bread
• cheese
• butter

Empty the can of tomato soup into a pot.  Then fill the empty soup can half and half with milk and water.  If you prefer your tomato soup extra creamy fill the entire can with milk, no water.  Stir occasionally on medium heat for about 7 minutes.  At the same time, butter both sides of each piece of bread and allow the bread and butter to heat up on a skillet (medium).  Once the first two sides of bread are headed put the cheese in the center of the heated sides and then allow the cool sides to cook until golden brown. This will take a minute or so on each side.  Once the soup is heated up add a touch of pepper and some croutons!

-Katie

BYOBowl: Breakfast Bowl

A breakfast bowl is a simple, relatively quick fix in the morning before running to class or even for the all sacred breakfast for dinner.  All it takes is a few ingredients and a little preparation.

• 1 or 2 eggs
• Milk
• Red pepper
• Green pepper
• 2 Sausage links
• Salt/Pepper

First, chop up a little of onion, red pepper, and green pepper.  Then sauté the vegetables in a small pan for 1-2 minutes, or until cooked. Next, warm up the sausage links in the microwave for the amount of time specified on the box. When they are done, cut them up into small pieces. Then while the sausage is cooking, crack one or two eggs in a bowl, add a little milk, mix it up, and put it in the frying pan to scramble.  Add salt and pepper as needed. After the eggs are done put them in a bowl, add the vegetables and the sausage. Give it a little mix and enjoy! Feel free to add some hot sauce or salsa if that is what you like.

-Sarah

Stuffed Crust Secret

Hey everyone,

I know that pizza is that “typical” college eat and we all could just order a pie, but a homemade pizza tastes so good.  I decided I wanted to try and make a homemade stuffed crust pizza so I did a little experimenting until I figured out how to make that delicious stuffed crust.  It clicked and I decided to wrap the edges of the dough around string cheese and it ended up working perfectly.  Here are some photos of the homemade stuffed crust pizza I made.  I used the leftover dough to make pizza bites.

 

If you want to make the pizza yourself you’ll need:

• 2 Pillsbury pizza dough tubes
• 1 large jar of pizza sauce
• 2 bags of mozzarella cheese
• any toppings you would like to put on your pizza ( I used pineapples, onions, pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms)

Now you don’t have to order a pizza if your craving stuffed crust.

-Ryan

Blazin’ Buffalo Mash

Hey Everyone,

One of the all time favorite dishes on campus here at James Madison University is Buffalo Mashed Potatoes, or just “Buffalo Mash” for short.  Its one of those dishes that you just simply crave for no reason around here at JMU, it makes my mouth water just writing about it.  During lunch the other day my friends and I were discussing how we have not seen “Buffalo Mash” at the dining hall almost all semester.  We aren’t sure if it was discontinued or if we just eat on campus on the wrong days.  Whatever the reason may be for the recent absence of “Buffalo Mash” it is extremely disappointing. I have decided to bring back this JMU favorite right here in my kitchen.  I hope you enjoy the bite this “Buffalo Mash” brings!

What you will need:

• Instant mashed potatoes
• Butter
• Salt
• Milk
• Water
• Chicken
• Buffalo wing sauce (I’m using Frank’s Red Hot)

Directions:

• Follow the directions on the instant mashed potatoes box combining the appropriate amounts of potato, butter, salt, milk and water as directed.
• Cover the chicken in a decent amount of buffalo sauce and put it in a pan to cook over the stovetop
• Leave chicken in pan on medium heat until fully cooked.
• In a bowl, first coat the bottom of the bowl in a decent amount of mashed potatoes
• Next, place the fully cooked chicken on top
• Finally, add as much buffalo sauce to the top of the dish as desired. (The more sauce the spicier the dish will be)
• Enjoy

Let me know what you think about this JMU original,

 

-Ryan

BYOBowl of Frozen Yogurt with a Twist

Frozen Yogurt Bites

Check out this awesome idea that is cheap, easy and perfect for breakfast on the go or an afternoon snack. Thanks to Holm Designs for the idea!
-Katie

BYOBowl of potatoes

Parmesan potatoes 

Just saw this great recipe on Pinterest from favfamilyrecipes.com.  While your at it, follow our pinterest board!

-Katie

BYOBowl: Alfredo Pasta

This weeks theme is Bring Your Own Bowl!

Today I decided to make a delicious shrimp and chicken alfredo pasta!

Ingredients:

• tomato
• broccoli
• pasta
• alfredo sauce
• chicken
• shrimp
• parmesan cheese
• seasoning

I use frozen shrimp and cooked chicken so once thawed it is ready to go. First, I filled a pot with water allowed it to boil and then added a serving of pasta.  I prefer whole wheat penne, but anything works! I put the chicken, shrimp, chopped up tomato and broccoli in a pan and allowed it to simmer in some seasoning and olive oil until the pasta was fully cooked.

I then drained the pasta and added alfredo sauce, the mixture from the pan and a dash of parmesan cheese. I was able to enjoyed this bowl full of delicious pasta next door with some friends as they ate their meals brought home from campus. I definitely had a best meal there.

-Katie

 

 

Cucumber Tomato Salad

Hey foodies. I hope you all have had a great week. We have been enjoying some beautiful weather in Harrisonburg this week, so I was in the mood to make something fresh and cool. Therefore, for the end of Health Haze week, I am bringing you one of my favorite salad recipes, cucumber and tomato salad.

Thing you will need:

• 1 cucumber
• 1 small carton of cherry tomatoes
• 1 small sweet onion
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• ½ tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 ½ tbsp. sugar

First you will need to cut your cucumber into bite sized pieces, half your cherry tomatoes (any other kind of tomato will work too, but I think the cherry ones hold up better) and cut your onion into small slices. Feel free to add any other vegetables you like; I am adding green peppers because I love them, but they aren’t necessary. In a small bowl, whisk together all of the non-vegetable ingredients. You will need to whisk rather rapidly to dissolve the sugar and combine the vinegar and oil (you can also use a blender or food processor if you want it to do the work for you). Season with salt and pepper to flavor. Then add the cut vegetables to a bowl and pour the marinade over them. Let sit in the refrigerator covered for at least 1 hour so the flavors have a chance to combine. This is a great dish to bring to a potluck or enjoy alongside any dinner and it’s delicious and healthy. Enjoy the weekend foodies!

-Kelsey-

Healthy Haze: Fruit Salad and Yogurt

Hi everyone,

I thought the perfect meal for this week would be a fruit salad with a side of yogurt.  Fruit is a great way to stay healthy and there are so many choices, too.

For this snack you will need:

• fruit (any kind)
• yogurt (any kind)

First, you cut all of the fruit up and put it into a large bowl. For mine, I chose grapes, grapefruit, an apple and some clementines. Then you can mix the yogurt and the fruit together or eat both separately. Fruit salad is a quick and easy snack that can be eaten on the go but it is healthy too.  There are so many different options to choose from and you will never get bored with this simple meal.  I hope you all had a great week.

Happy eating,

Sarah