I’m going to be traveling a lot this month. And, well, a decent amount for the rest of the summer. Not to mention my writing class, community band, work, and freelance work I’ve got going on too. It’s a busy time for me.

One of the challenges of being so busy: meal planning.

Since I’m not home much, I can’t really buy a lot of fresh produce–which really limits my food options. (Especially since I’m wanting to stay away from too many pre-made and frozen items.) But there are a few options for the really busy person.

Buy only what you need for the short term. Okay, so this is a tip most people probably already live by… but when I get really busy my gut tells me to stock up because you really don’t know when you’ll have the free time to get to the store. This week I leave on Friday, so any fresh produce (ie: that mango I have in my fruit bowl) needs to be used before I leave. I didn’t go overboard with the fresh stuff because I knew I couldn’t get to it.

Freeze what you can. Yeah, I said I wanted to stay away from too much frozen… but I really meant frozen processed stuff. Frozen veggies I’m still a fan of–better than canned in my opinion. But meats. Freeze your meats. I’ve got about 3 pork loins, a salmon filet, a good number of tilapia filets, and some smoked sausage all in my freezer. Having a nice little stock of meat in my freezer is a great thing. It’s there when I need it, always. Invest in freezer bags to avoid burn. I put things in the fridge either the night before or before I leave for work so it defrosts for dinner… or, run it under cool water for a while (not hot, because you don’t want to cook it.)

If you’re a really organized person, utilize your calendar like crazy. I’m weird about when I eat things–I’m not a picky eater when it comes to food, but when it comes to when I want to eat that food. I just get in moods. Since mapping out my meal plans doesn’t really fit my style, I utilize lists. I’ll have a list on my fridge with different meal options I’ve got. Once I use up one and can’t make it again, I cross it off. So this week, I’ve got black bean, corn, & mango salad to make and the rest is up in the air.

Lastly, prepare for when you return home! As I said, I’m leaving on Friday and won’t return until sometime on Monday night. I need to make sure I’ve got something easy to prepare for Monday night, in case I get home in time for a late dinner, and I need things for Tuesday morning through Wednesday lunch. Wednesday evening I can shop again. But I need just enough that will survive until then. I’ve got mac & cheese, Annie’s stars (like spaghetti-o’s–I know! It’s a guilty pleasure I allow myself to indulge in every so often), pasta, and all my frozen meats. This is also why I switched to Almond milk–it last longer.

These are just a few lessons I’ve learn from traveling and being way too busy… what are your tips and tricks for meal planning while balancing a chaotic schedule?

*And yes, that’s a picture of my local market. And yes, that is cereal in the freezer aisle.

Before you comment on how weird that pile of stuff on my steak looks, I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it tastes. I wasn’t quite sure about this one when I made it, to be honest with you. But it far exceded my expectations!

A compote is traditionally a long steamed fruit in sweet syrup–typically some sort of dessert. Now, not sure mine technically qualifies as a true compote, but whatever it is, it’s amazing. The sweetness from the dates and balsamic vinegar blend perfectly with the saltiness of the bacon, and then you add in the savory steak. My jaw would have dropped had it not been filled with such awesomeness.

If you’ve ever tried (and loved) dates wrapped in bacon, you know what I mean.

Ingredients:
~ half an onion, chopped up
~ 4-7 dates, pitted
~ 1-1 1/2 strips of bacon, sliced into small pieces
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
steak — cut & cooked to your preference

Optional Variations:
I mean, you can remove the bacon if you want to, but why?

The How To:
1)  Heat about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, don’t let it simmer or bubble up.
2) Put the onions in the oil, coat in the olive oil, then reduce heat, add a little salt, and cover. Stir occasionally, and cook until golden brown. (You’re caramelizing the onions.)
3) Slice the dates into thin pieces. Try to keep them from sticking together. Slice the bacon into similarly sized pieces (maybe a little larger).
4) Add the dates & bacon to the onions, drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar, and stir. Cover and let it cook on low heat for a little bit longer, maybe 10 minutes. (Add a little water so it steams some.)
5) Once done, remove from heat and set aside.
6) THE STEAK: This is how I do it… Salt both sides of the steak generously with seasoned salt. Cook in a pan for 2 minutes on each side. Don’t touch it while it’s cooking! Once done, take off the pan and let it sit on a plate for 2 minutes for the juices to set.
7) Plate your steak and top it with your compote. Bask in the glory of your amazing meal.

It looks weird but tastes amazing. I ended up with a lot more compote than I needed, or maybe I just didn’t have enough steak! But it’s like dinner & dessert all wrapped up in one. In fact, look for a bacon wrapped, date stuffed steak bite from me in the future as a little tapas dish.

You guys are going to laugh that this is even a recipe. The way I do it, it’s two ingredients. Four if you include the garlic broccoli. But really this is more of a way of demystifying cooking fish.

Growing up, my main interaction with fish was canned tuna. Maybe some fish sticks here and there, but pretty much I was a tuna girl. And then at some point someone made me a salmon cake, and I was like okay… maybe… But then I had a salmon filet, and I was sold. But I had no idea how to do that on my own. Fish are weird, and you assume there’s something special to it.

But really, this dish is insanely easy and became almost a weekly staple. This is the no-sweat dish you make to impress someone all while giggling to yourself on the inside.

Ingredients:
Salmon filet
Cajun spices (I use McCormick’s premixed blend, but it’s basically: garlic, black pepper, cayenne, oregano, chili pepper, sea salt, onion, paprika, and red & green bell peppers*)

The How To:
1) Heat up a non-stick skillet–I generally use my small one for this, just big enough for the filet.
2) Coat the top part of your salmon with your spices.
3) Once the skillet is hot, cook your salmon spice side up.
4) After about 30 seconds or so, I put a lid on the skillet, and let the steam help cook from the top down. Maybe only a minute or so. Once all the edges look cooked, I take it off the heat and serve. So in total, the cooking time is about 2-3 minutes if you steam it like I did.

TIPS: If you’re going to flip the salmon, cook it for about 2 minutes on each side. No need for a lid with this one. Honestly, slightly under cooked salmon isn’t going to hurt you. You could eat this raw if you want (as long as it’s fresh)–hello sushi.

Garlic Broccoli:
Steam broccoli until desired softness/crunchiness. (You can steam in the microwave–just add a little water into a microwave safe dish, loosely cover, and depending on the amount of broccoli it should only take 2-3 minutes.)
Once done, sprinkle a little garlic salt on it. If you want, add a tiny little pinch of ground ginger.

This is a SERIOUSLY simple meal that is beyond delicious. You could do a nice rice medley or a quinoa salad of some sort as a side too.

*Remember how I’m allergic to (green) bell peppers? I’ve found out over the years that there’s a way of cooking out the toxins–and apparently whatever they do with this spice makes it so I don’t noticeably react. 

With the warm months here, it means my Indiana shows a bit more–and by that, I mean whole meals of just corn on the cob. Corn, butter, salt. However, since moving to Chicago, I was introduced to this very tasty version called Elote.

Basically, Elote is sometimes known as “Mexican Corn on the Cob”… I was first introduced to it a few summers ago while having a barbecue at the lake. I’ve seen a few carts around town that sell it, as well as the little Mexican restaurant down the street from me. Now, some places/people will call what I made Elote con Creme, but this really isn’t a creamed corn.

I’ll give you the how to for on and off the cob in this recipe.

Ingredients:
Corn on the cob (or ~1 cup/can corn)
Butter
~ 1 tablespoon Mayo
grated Parmesan or Cotija cheese
Chili powder
Cayenne Pepper

Optional Variations:
Fresh squeeze lime juice
Cumin, or whatever spices strike your fancy

The How To:
1) Cook your corn. I grew up using the microwave, rather than boiling. Just take the corn, still in the husk, wrap a towel around it (especially if it’s not in the husk), then microwave it for ~3 minutes. Nay-sayers can boo-hoo this, but trust me, it’s just as good and pretty easy.
1B) Remove the husk if you corn still had it.
2) Cut the corn off the cob, put in a bowl.
3) Stir in a tiny bit of butter (probably less than a tablespoon), in fact you can skip this if you really want. Stir in your mayo, cheese, and spices.

On the Cob:
2) Smear a little butter on your cob. (ha!)
3) Do a nice thin to moderate level of mayo on your corn. Whatever you’re comfortable with.
4) Sprinkle with cheese. Sprinkle with spices. Enjoy!

On the cob, it’s a little messy. But still just as good. I also recommend grilling your corn rather than nuking or boiling it. If you’re doing this grilled, use the husk as a handle, because you’ll need it!

I want to welcome everyone to the Savvy Spork — a very new food blog.

I want to start off by saying I’m not a food expert, or chef, or foodie… I’m just someone who loves food. I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen. I’m not so much into exact measurements, though. I feel like all spices should be “to taste” and that creating meals should be as fun as eating them.

In college, I used to call myself a “half-assed cook”. I would just throw stuff together, not really using a recipe, and bam. Meal. And most of them were really good. So, now that I’m a bit older, and hitting that “holy crap I really am an adult” phase of nearly 28, I’m wanting to actually eat real, good meals. Making something on your own, rather than all these pre-made, prepackaged things, isn’t that hard. So the majority of the recipes you’ll find on here follow that: they feel like they require minimal effort.

Like I said, this is a very new food blog. Keep checking in for new recipes—not just from me, but from friends and family—as well as other food related goodness.

-Erini

So, I realize Easter’s over. But Spring is here in the western hemisphere and these eggs will look great at any picnic or potluck. And really, you can dye them any color, so this is great for all year round.

I used to love dying eggs for Easter. I never got too crazy with it, mainly because one year I ended up with a lot of muddled brown-ish colored eggs. But, this is super awesome. And of course easy. And not too messy if you’re not me.

Ingredients:
Eggs, as many as you’d like
Vinegar
Water
Food coloring
Mayo & Mustard

Optional Variations:
whatever you want to put in your deviled eggs! I keep mine simple.

The How To:
1) Boil your eggs. I was told to add a bit of vinegar to my water to help keep them from cracking. Should only take 10 minutes.
2) Take your boiled eggs out of the hot water and give them an ice bath. The cold water will help with peeling, make sure they stay in cold water until the water stays a constant temperature.
3) Peel your eggs. Remove all the shell. Hopefully you’re better at this than I am.
4) Half your eggs and remove the yolk.
5) Mix the yolk with mayo and mustard. Not much. Just enough to give a good goopy consistency. Set this aside.
6) In separate bowls, fill them with enough water that it’ll cover the egg halfs. Use food coloring to dye the water whatever color you’d like.
7) Soak the egg halves in the colored water. The longer you let them soak, the more vibrant the color. I think I gave mine between 5-10 minutes.
8) Remove, and dry on a paper towel, “bowl” side up (aka where the yolk was). Don’t let the colors get too close to each other though, the dyes will still bleed.
9) Once dry, fill with your deviled egg yolk mixture. EAT.

Now, hopefully you’re better with dyes than I am. Part of my counter is still green. And I think my fingertips were pink for a day. I think I was just overly excited about crazy colored eggs.

Obviously, colors like green, blue, and reds/bright pinks will give the best contrast to the yellow yolk. But have fun with it!

Another huge trend has been the Green Monster Smoothie. It’s one of my favorites. They taste amazing, are surprisingly simple, and I’m pretty sure I’d drink these even if they weren’t healthy. (Though maybe not as often. Maybe.)

The color is amazing. That’s a large part of the fun of this smoothie. And again, they taste great–only my father would disagree, but he’s weird and hate bananas. There’s also a lot of great variations you can do with this smoothie, but for this recipe’s sake, I’m going to focus on the traditional Green Monster.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk (I prefer Almond, soy is another favorite)
2-3 ice cubes
1/2 – 3/4 banana (frozen and pre-sliced works the best)
handful of spinach (I generally remove the stems)

Optional Variations:
Substitute kale for spinach
(much more: see monster smoothies for more recipes)

The How To:
1) Place all ingredients in a blender. I use one of those personal one-serving ones because pouring from a blender to a cup just seems like more work for cleaning. But make sure your little blender can handle ice and frozen things. No one likes a blender fire–trust me.
2) Blend well. Drink and enjoy.

Told ya. Super simple. I always try to max out the amount of spinach just to get the greenest smoothie possible.

This one is really simple and a great comfort food! Plus, crockpot food are amazing. Set it, forget it, and by dinner time: your kitchen (or in my case: your entire apartment) smells of yummy foods.

Honestly, you could do this one without the crockpot. It’s just nice come home to and pretend like dinner magically appeared.

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of chicken breast (yeah, again with the canned chicken. Or cook up one small chicken breast and shred)
About half a cup of peas
1 tube prepared biscuit dough

Optional variations:
Add in some cubed carrots or corn. Any veggies would be nice.

The How To:
1) Empty soup, chicken, and veggies into the crockpot.
2) Set, probably on low if dinner’s going to be in a while… high for the last 20 minutes or so.
3) Bake biscuits as directed, towards end of cooking.
4) Serve chicken over biscuits.

Optional variation:
Tear the biscuit dough into pieces and put in the crockpot. It’ll be like an easy chicken and dumplings. (My crockpot was too small to try this.)

So quinoa is a huge thing right now. I mean, we have an entire restaurant chain in downtown Chicago that is pretty much all quinoa based. One of my favorite dishes there has been the Buffalo Chicken Bowl. Theirs has 390 calories, and I’m sure mine isn’t all that far off.

This dish is filling, and well, so good that I generally never have leftovers! Plus, making it at home means saving $8 each meal!

Ingredients: (for ~2 servings)
1/2 cup dry quinoa
1 cup chicken stock/broth
1 can chicken breast (yeah, I said can. If you want to deal with raw chicken, you can–just take one chicken breast, cook it all the way, then shred it.)
Buffalo sauce (to taste)
Shredded carrots (just one grab/small handful)
Shredded cheddar cheese (ditto from the carrots)
Crumbled bleu cheese (to taste)
Thinly sliced cucumbers (as much as you need for crunch!)

Optional variations:
Add in some sliced cucumbers for more veggies!

The How To:
1) Cook the quinoa in a rice cooker; the package should have directions but basically it’s 2:1 ration of liquid to quinoa. I prefer chicken stock to water, but it’s up to you. Oh. And spray your rice cooker with cooking spray first, it helps. Should take about 15 minutes. (If you’re doing this on the stovetop, make it like you would rice.)
2) On the stove top, in a sauce pan, heat the chicken, cheddar, carrots, and buffalo sauce.
3) Once the quinoa is done, serve some in a bowl, cover with buffalo chicken mixture, and then top with bleu cheese and cucumbers!

When storing: Do not store it with the bleu cheese or cucumbers. Keep those in a separate baggie if you’re bringing this for lunch. Add it after you reheat your meal.

Remember: My philosophy is that spices, and many other ingredients are to taste. Adapt this to your needs and desires–there’s no right or wrong. Just tasty and tastier.

I am a huge fan of s’mores. However, living in the city, campfires and the ability to roast marshmallows just don’t present themselves often.

This recipe is super easy, and crazy adaptable. I mean, what can’t you put in a crescent roll?

Ingredients:
1 tube crescent roll dough
handful of dark chocolate chips
handful of marshmallows

Optional dessert variations:
Nutella
Peanut Butter
sliced bananas
a little butter & cinnamon dusted on top

The How To:
1) Unroll the dough on a clean surface. Separate the triangles.
2) Place a few chocolate chips and marshmallows at the wide end of the triangle (as seen in the photo).
3) Roll from the wide end down. Add in some extra chips & marshmallows as you roll to get extra tasty gooeyness throughout!
4) Place on a baking sheet (non-stick!), and bake as directed.
5) Let cool for a little bit–the goal is to get these in your face as quick as possible, but no one likes a burnt mouth!

These actually reheat decently well, but who has leftovers?