Cranberry-Apple Kugel

Kugel is one of those dishes I remember fondly from childhood. My grandmother would make it occasionally and it was always a treat. I took her recipe and changed it up to make it a little more Winter seasonable. The end result is a sweet and tart kugel that is the perfect end to most meals. The bonus of this recipe is that you can fine every ingredient at ALDI. The Fried Apples may be a problem outside of the fall/winter season, but there's workarounds. If you've had kugel before, this is a nice change from the raisin/pineapple you may be used to. If you've never had kugel before, you're in for a treat. As always, notes are in blue.

Cranberry-Apple Kugel

Ingredients

• 1 lb. wide egg noodles
• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 can (14.5 oz) ALDI Fried apples with cinnamon. (this may be tough to find, especially out of season. If you can't find it, use an equal amount of canned apples, or in a pinch, apple pie filling)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 lb. small curd cottage cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (191C, GasMark 5)
2. Cook noodles 1 less minute than suggested on the package. Drain and set aside.
3. Chop cranberries (if you have a food processor, just save yourself the anguish and pulse them a few times in there) Throw the cranberries in a large bowl. Add sugar and mix. Let that sit for a few minutes.
4. Add the apples, butter, eggs and cheese to the cranberry mixture. Stir to mix it all up. 
5. Add the noodles and toss to make sure everything is evenly incorporated. 
6. Dump it all in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Make sure it's distributed in an even layer.
7. Cook for 40 minutes or until the noodles on top start to get brown and crisp.
8. Remove from oven and let sit at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Good Times!

Crab Rangoon Pizza

 I'm not sure where the inspiration came for this one. Probably from the bag of fake crab that had been in the freezer for an uncomfortable amount of time. Apparently, I'm not the first person to come up with this idea, but by the time I had figured that out, it was too late. The recipe was already scrawled on the back on an envelope. The Wife and I were both really surprised how good this was. Even The Spud condescended to take a tiny bite before going back to her crackers and cheese. I can't say the flavor was 100% authentic to a restaurant crab rangoon. You'd probably need to go a little heavier on the cream cheese. I don't recommend that, as it would make the topping way too thick. However! You could do it and just bump up the rest of the ingredients. Then forget about the flatbread as a crust, turn the topping into a dip, and use the bread for dipping. DAMN, I AM A GENIUS. I do recommend hitting it with a little hot sauce or crushed red pepper, it really brings it together. Let me know what you think, as long as it's positive. As always, notes are in blue.

Crab Rangoon Pizza
or Dip If You're So Inclined

Ingredients

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 pound artificial crab meat aka "crabuluxe," roughly chopped (don't even think about using real crab meat here. You know damned well the crab rangoon you're getting from the local place is using the fake stuff)
• 2 green onions, finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon ponzu sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• (in the event you don't have either of those, you could probably get away with equal amounts of soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 artisan flatbread, 7 ounces (ALDI has them. If you can't get to an ALDI, find something comparable at your local store)
• Optional: sriracha, or hot sauce of your choice. Even crushed red pepper would work

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F (220C, Gasmark 7)
2. In a bowl, put in everything except the shredded cheese and the flatbread. Mix thoroughly.
3. Place the flatbread on a baking tray. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture over the bread.
4. Sprinkle the shredded cheeses evenly over the top of the cream cheese mixture.
5. Put in the oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted.
6. If you're using optional hot sauce/peppers, throw it on and get to work!

Good Times!

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Soup

Lately we have been in survival mode. We've had some drama around the homestead and work has been one nightmare after another for me and The Wife. Among other things, I had a sinus infection that led to over three weeks of coughing. Scorpia summed it up very succinctly:

Well, more of a challenge of a last few months.

Last Sunday, I finally had the energy to throw together something new. This recipe is about as easy as you could want. We used ALDI frozen chicken breasts. I didn't even defrost the meat, I just chucked it in frozen. If you're a vegetarian, feel free to leave the meat out. This would make a fine potato soup. If you're feeling tired and lazy, this is the way to go. It's a perfect soup for this weather. It's thick and spicy and definitely takes the edge off a cold day. Try it and let me know what you think, unless it's negative, then don't. I probably couldn't handle it at this point. As always, notes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 6 potatoes, cut into small (1/4") cubes. Peeling them is optional
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 pound chicken (boneless skinless thighs or breasts. I used breasts for this recipe)
• 2 packs (2 ounces each) Buffalo Chicken Soup/Dip Mix (I got mine at Aldi. I'm sure most grocery stores have it. If you don't like spicy, do one packet. If you do like spicy, use the two recommended and then dump in some Frank's or Tabasco)
• 32 ounces chicken stock
• 1 block (8 ounces) Neufchatel cheese (or you can use regular cream cheese)

Directions

1. Throw everything but the cheese into a 5 quart or larger slow cooker in the order listed above. 
2. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
3. Shred the chicken (I just got in there with a couple of forks and tore it up)
4. Add the cheese and stir until it is incorporated. 
5. Turn to LOW and cook another 30 minutes.

Good times!

Tuna Ranch Melt Pinwheel

     Sometimes you come across a recipe so hilariously Middle Class, it begs to be made. This is the sort of recipe you know will end up at pot lucks or brunches across the Midwest. The ingredients are Middle Class staples: Bisquick, tuna, ranch dressing, American cheese. I kid you not when I tell you the wife and I had to wait a few minutes to eat this because we were laughing so hard when this came out of the oven. In its defense, this recipe is super cheap and easy to make, and comes in at around 250 calories per serving. As always, any notes or changes are in blue.

Tuna Ranch Melt Pinwheel
via Betty Crocker 300 Calorie Cookbook

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups Bisquick Heart Smart Mix (that didn't happen. I just used the ALDI brand baking mix)
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1 can (12 ounces) chunk light tuna in water, drained
• 1/4 cup ranch dressing
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
• 1 small tomato, cut into 6 slices
• 3 slices American cheese, cut in half diagonally (I'm going to have to insist you go with American cheese, because this thing looks hysterical when it's done. While Muenster or Swiss would probably taste good, you'd be missing out on the aesthetics of the Road Cone Orange you get with American)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450F. In a medium bowl, stir baking mix and boiling water until soft dough forms. Gather dough into a ball.
2. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Roll dough into 13 inch round. Place on ungreased 12 inch pizza pan (if you have a pizza stone, it works great here). Pinch edge to form 1/2 inch rim. Bake 6-8 minutes or until light brown.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix tuna, dressing and onions. Spread tuna mixture over crust (don't forget to take the crust out of the oven first). Arrange tomato and cheese slices alternately in a pinwheel pattern on tuna mixture. Bake 1-2 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges.

Good times!

Slow Cooker Spanish-Style Couscous

     I'm still on the fence about slow-cooker recipes that require you to do cooking outside of the slow-cooker. I just want to chuck everything in there and forget about it. I'll make exceptions for ground meat. Nobody wants slow cooked ground meat. That just sounds nasty. After this recipe, I'll also make an exception for couscous, because it takes almost no time to make. The Wife and I really enjoyed this recipe. We tinkered with the ingredients and came up with a winner. It was simple and with a switch to turkey, a healthy meal. As always, any notes and changes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Spanish-Style Couscous
via Crock-Pot Quick & Easy Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef (we had a bunch of ground turkey patties in the freezer, so we used 1.5 pounds of those instead)
• 1 can (14 ounces) beef broth (I don't keep cans of broth on hand. I just filled an empty can with water and dissolved a beef bouillon cube in it)
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (you should know by now The Wife doesn't like green peppers, so we went with red instead)
• 1/2 cup pimiento stuffed green olives, sliced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
•  1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon Pilsen Latino Seasoning from the Spice House
• 1-1/3 cup water (this is for the couscous. DON'T put it in the slow cooker!)
• 1 cup uncooked couscous (we found a really good roasted garlic and olive oil couscous at ALDI)

Directions

1. Brown meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat (I've never seen a recipe tell you to break up the meat before. Are there people out there just chucking a big wad of meat in the pan and hoping for the best?) Drain fat.
2. Combine broth, bell pepper, olives, onion, garlic, cumin, thyme and meat in slow-cooker. Cover; cook on LOW 5 hours or until bell pepper is tender. 
3. Bring water to a boil over high heat in a small saucepan. Stir in couscous. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with fork (don't forget to take the cover off before fluffing or you may encounter some difficulties). Spoon couscous onto plates; top with beef mixture (use a slotted spoon for getting the beef mixture out. There's going to be a fair amount of liquid left in the slow cooker).

Good times!

White Chicken Enchiladas

     For as many times as I turn to Taste of Home Every Day Light Meals, the publishers should probably start giving me some sort of endorsement deal. Seriously. I'd take a couple of bucks for talking up a product I like. I'm not proud. Anyways, I keep going back to this book because you can't argue with success. Today's recipe has become one of our favorites when it's time to cook Mexican-style. It speaks volumes for this recipe that I will make almost no changes to this recipe. Fair warning, this is moderately labor intensive. It's worth it, though. As always, notes are in blue. With no further delay, I present today's recipe:

White Chicken Enchiladas
via Taste of Home Everyday Meals

Ingredients

• 12 white or yellow corn tortillas (6 inches) (we used flour instead. If you use flour, you're going to need to eat them in a couple of days or they get super soggy)
• 4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese (ALDI makes a great Neufchatel cheese I use whenever reduced-fat cream cheese is called for)
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 cup fat-free milk, divided (I used 2%)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
• 1 can (10.75 ounce reduced-fat, reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 cup (8 ounces) fat-free sour cream
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped (If you want more heat, leave the seeds in)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Wrap tortillas in foil. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes or until softened (I have never, ever done this step. I have yet to suffer a broken tortilla)
2. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk and cumin until smooth. (Let the cream cheese soften up or it's going to take forever to get smooth) Stir in chicken. 
3. In a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray (I went ahead and used a bit of olive oil. I refuse to live in fear). Sautee onion and red pepper until softened. Stir into chicken mixture.
4. In another bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, jalapenos, cayenne and remaining milk. Stir 2 tablespoons of this mixture into the chicken mixture.

   

   You should end up with two bowls. The one on the right is the enchilada filling,
   the one on the left is the enchilada topping. Keep that straight. If you do this wrong
   you'll destroy all life as we know it.

5. Place 1/3 cup of chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla; roll up (the tortilla, not you. You'll be hard pressed to get much done laying on the floor like a pillbug)
6. Place rolled tortillas seam side down in a 13"x9"x2" baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Top with remaining soup mixture. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Good times!

Weekday Meal Project

     I've been doing a lot more cooking than normal lately, and really enjoying it. We've been eating well and not working too hard to make it happen. During that time, I've heard some naysayers claim it's too expensive to eat healthy. I suppose that depends on your definition of healthy. Organic? Yes, that's expensive. We count calories for the most part in my house. We try to keep sodium and fat down, but if you watch calories, everything else falls into place, more or less.
     For a week I made it a point to cook at least four of the five workdays. I wanted to see if I could make quick meals that were not more than 300 calories. I also wanted to do this without breaking the bank. I'm going to tell you what I cooked each night and give an approximate cost assuming you only had the spices on hand. I am basing costs on shopping at ALDI, Wal-Mart and County Market.

Monday: Shrimp Scampi (two servings). 340 calories with rice.
About $3.50-$4.00 per serving.

Tuesday: I had to work late. Bought two 6-inch subs with a coupon. The subs were around 350-400 calories a piece. $5.50

Wednesday: Orange-Teriyaki Beef and Noodles (two servings). 300 calories.
About $3.50-$4.50 per serving

Thursday: Thai Curry Chicken Soup (3 servings). 210 calories.
About $1.00-$1.50 per serving

Friday: Crab and Spinach Enchiladas (4 servings) 265 calories.
About $2.00-$2.50 per serving

     So there you have it. A work week of meals. Good, healthy foods. Total cost? Somewhere in the range of $14.50-$18.00. That's feeding two people, with two nights having leftovers. Only one meal I cooked went over 300 calories, and that was only 40 over. It's not easy to eat right for not a lot of money. You only need to remember one thing.

Shop Smart.

Good times!

Recipe Monday: Buffalo Chicken Bake

     The wife and I make it a point to count calories when we plan our meals for the day. To make that process easier, I bought a few cookbooks that specifically limit the caloric count of each recipe. One of the better books we've found is The 300 Calorie Cook Book from Betty Crocker. The original recipe is from the "Meals For Two" section: "Bar-b-q Chicken Bake" (p. 309). We made some changes. We doubled the recipe to four servings. We also swapped out the barbecue sauce for Franks Hot Sauce (any Buffalo-style sauce would work). We also used a 4-cheese Mexican blend instead of the reduced fat cheddar. We had no access to Bisquick Heart Smart, so we used our ALDI brand all-purpose biscuit mix.

     The end result was pretty good. You'll panic at first when you see that the biscuit mix barely covers the bottom of the pans. It rises up during cooking to give you a crust that's about 1/2" and fairly crunchy around the outside. Cook it a bit longer if you don't want the middle to be a touch soggy. As always, changes and notes are in blue.

Buffalo-Chicken Bake

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup all-purpose biscuit mix
• 2T water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup cut up cooked chicken (we cooked our chicken in some cayenne pepper paste for extra heat)
• 1/2 cup Franks Hot Sauce (or Buffalo-style hot sauce of choice)
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray two 8x4" loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Cook chicken breasts (doesn't really matter how. Microwave if you want. We fried them in a skillet with our home-made pepper paste). Cut up chicken when done (please try not to poison yourself by not cooking the chicken enough)
3. Stir together biscuit mix, water and egg white; spread half in bottom of each pan.
4. In small bowl, mix chicken and hot sauce. Microwave on high for 1 minute (skip microwaving if you are using the chicken hot from cooking.)  Spoon over batter in pans to within 1/2" of edge; sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown; loosen from sides of pan.

Makes 4 servings (2 per pan), about 265 calories per serving. 

Good times!

Middle Class Wine: St. Gisbertus Pomegranate +Lime Cocktail

     It's no secret that we like our wine in this house. It's also no secret that we like ALDI a great deal, as well. What happens when those two worlds collide and we bring home a new bottle from the store? Let's find out. 

     The liquor section is the first thing you pass in our ALDI, so naturally it is the first place I stop. I was immediately drawn in by this bottle:

It beckoned like a reasonably priced siren.

     St. Gisbertus Pomegranate+Lime Cocktail. The bottle whispered of its delights. "Mild and Sweet," it claimed. "Aromas and flavors of pomegranate with a hint of lime lead to a sweet refreshing finish," it boldly proclaimed. We were sold! It was decided on the spot that this would be the sparkling beverage with which we would toast the New Year!

And at $2.99, what could possibly go wrong?

     As midnight neared, we set up the wine glasses and got ready to get our drink on. On twisting off the fancy plastic/metal-combo cap, I immediately noted the distinct lack of a hiss of escaping carbon dioxide. No bubbles merrily rose to the top of the bottle. I double checked the ingredients. "Carbonated grape wine," right there. It's even the first ingredient. I gave it a hard pour into the glass. I was rewarded with a weak layer of bubbles. No worries. The color was very nice, so I had that going for me.

     I took a quick nose and promptly recoiled. What did I just smell? I couldn't place it, but it was eerily familiar. I knew that I had smelled that smell before, but I could not place it. I found it gravely unsettling. Even the wife cautiously shrugged when I asked her to label the smell. We decided to bravely move forward and give a tentative sip.

     There was immediately a taste that connected strongly with the smell. I can't impress upon you that this was as Lenny would call it, "A Bad Thing." My brain worked desperately to process the information. Why couldn't I place the flavor? It certainly wasn't pomegranate or lime. At the stroke of midnight we drank our final toast, I finally realized what I was smelling and tasting.

Liver sausage.

     I shit you not, this cocktail, was redolent of braunschweiger. I immediately consulted Catholic.org to check out their list of Saints. Let's see, the patron saint of abdominal pain is Erasmus, the patron saint of wine trade is Amand; no way was he involved here. I checked the whole list. No Saint Gisbertus. I scoured the internet for minutes on end. The only Gisbertus I could find in religion was Gisbertus Voetius, and he was a Calvinist!

Wrong Calvin.

     If he was the patron saint of anything, it would be filthy lies and deception. And possibly liver sausage. Actually, no. St. George is the patron saint of butchers, so he probably has that covered. In the end, there was only one thing to do:

You can almost hear the sewer rats gagging.

St. Gisbertus Pomegranate+Lime Cocktail
Available at ALDI for around three bucks.

Smell: Sickly, slightly meaty. Hard to tell, I pulled my head back from the glass pretty quick.
Taste: Cloying, with an overarching braunschweiger theme.
Finish: Not a fucking chance.
Headache the next day?: Yes, from the half bottle of Toasted Caramel Black Velvet Whiskey I drank to get that liver-sausage taste out of my mouth.


Good times!

Monday Recipe: Bread Stuffing With Honey Crisp Apples (via Relish)

     We're heading back into Thanksgiving territory this week for another great side dish. When you think Thanksgiving side dishes, stuffing is usually the first thing to come to mind. No, not "dressing," stuffing. We don't deal in dressing in my house. You take food and stuff it into your mouth. Stuffing. Dressing sounds like you should be wearing the food.

Well, at least I'm not hungry any more.

     When it comes to stuffing, we've always been a Stove Top house. Nothing fancy. Maybe add some celery, onion and walnuts. When I was little, we used to stuff the bird, but then my parents became convinced we'd get trichinosis, or the collywobbles or something and started cooking the stuffing separately. I think it was actually the fact that my sister liked the stuffing crispy and not soggy. I'm not bitter. A couple of years ago, I found a new stuffing recipe and gave it a spin. The reason the recipe caught my eye was largely in part due to my mother. She had been banging on about honey crisp apples and how they were the Best Thing Ever. Being a good son, I decided to surprise her with honey crisp apple stuffing when we had her down for Thanksgiving. It was a hit and became a fixture at the holiday table. It's easy to make. It can be a touch pricey as honey crisp apples are generally around $2.50 a pound if you're lucky. If you have an ALDI near you, take a look there. They occasionally have honey crisp apples for $1.25 a pound. They tend to be a bit dinged up, but you're cutting them up and cooking them, so quit whining. 

Bread Stuffing with Honey Crisp Apples (via Relish)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion (1 large onion)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery (about 6 ribs)
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
• 12 cups torn artisan white bread (about a 1-pound loaf)
• 3 cups diced honey crisp apples (about 3 apples)
• 2 1/2 cups reduced-sodium turkey or chicken broth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F. 

1. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery; sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Add sage, salt and pepper. 
2. Place bread in a large bowl. Add onion mixture, any liquid from cooking the vegetables, apples and broth; toss well. 
3. Transfer stuffing to a 13 x 9-inch baking pan and bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. If the stuffing seems too dry, add more broth. Return to oven and bake 20 minutes. Makes 12 cups.

Nutritional Info: Calories 240, Fat 11g, Sodium 580mg, Carbohydrate 31g

Nutritionally Irresponsible Cooking: Fauxganoff

     When I lived in my first apartment, my culinary concerns were more focused on simply filling my belly. My cooking was fairly limited. Ramen, pasta, frozen pizzas, that sort of thing. Mostly this was due to the fact that I was counting every penny. Sometimes I got creative. Things didn't always go well, but there was the occasional success.  One of the less offensive dishes the wife and I regularly ate was something we called "Fauxganoff."

     It's pretty much what you think it is. I cobbled together a mock Beef Stroganoff from stuff I bought at ALDI. That stuff did not include fresh ingredients. This was put together from prepackaged and canned foods. I'm working from memory here, but the recipe went something like this:

Ingredients

• 1 can Roast Beef with Gravy
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 pound egg noodles

Directions

1. Open cans and pour contents into saucepan.
2. Add cheese
3. Bring to a simmer
4. Boil noodles and drain
5. Put noodles in saucepan and stir

     What's truly irresponsible about this meal is the level of salt you're going subject yourself to. 

If only, but no.

     A can of the beef has something like 2000mg of sodium. If you didn't have high blood pressure before, you will. If you already did have high blood pressure, this is liable to kill you outright. But man, was it good.

Monday Recipe: Salmon Cakes with Spicy Mayo

     As much as I prefer to use an existing recipe as is, or even play around with it, sometimes I feel like going completely on my own in the kitchen. This was one of my first freestyle efforts and it took a couple of tries to get it right. It leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation, which I like in a recipe. As with most of my recipes, I attempted to keep costs and calories down as low as possible. The cost can be kept fairly low, since almost all of the ingredients can be found at ALDI.  I figure these run no more than $2 per serving, assuming you have to go out and buy staples (mayo, eggs, flour, etc). You can cut the cost further by leaving out the lox, but I really like what they add to these cakes.

     Some of my variations of this recipe add panko bread crumbs, some chopped basil, or other simple swap-outs. As far as the hot sauce goes, take it out or leave it in. I just happen to like spicy. When I make this I use my own home-made pepper paste. I also traditionally serve these on English muffins with a slice of tomato. Enjoy!

Salmon Cakes with Spicy Mayonnaise 

Ingredients

• 1 14.75oz can Alaskan Pink Salmon (skin and bones removed)
• 2 oz. smoked salmon (lox), chopped 
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper sauce (or Sriracha if available)
• 1/2 cup  breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 egg
• Grape seed oil for frying
• Tomato slices for serving
• English muffins for serving
• Basil leaves (optional)

    Spicy Mayo

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise 
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika (regular paprika is fine if smoked is not available)
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper sauce (or Sriracha if available)
• 1 tsp Cajun seasoning     

     Directions

1. Clean canned salmon of bones and skin
2. Add first 11 items to a large bowl. Mix well (use your hands if you're not a squeamish baby) 
3. Form mixture into patties big enough to cover an English muffin
4. Put enough oil in the bottom of a non-stick pan to cover in a layer. Set to med-high heat.
5. Fry the patties in the grape seed oil until brown on both sides (3-5 minutes per side). Add oil as needed to keep bottom of pan coated.
6. Place salmon cakes on paper towel to absorb excess oil
7. In separate bowl, mix all ingredients for spicy mayo
8. Toast muffins
9. Spread a thin layer of mayo on the muffin. Place a slice of tomato on the muffin, place a salmon cake on the tomato. Add a dollop of mayo and a basil leaf for garnish.

ALDI

  
  It wasn't until I moved into my first apartment that I learned about ALDI. I had always done my grocery shopping at Jewel or Dominick's. My girlfriend (now my wife) informed me that I might do well to consider shopping at ALDI instead.

     If you just asked yourself "what in the world is ALDI?" then you are probably somewhere above the middle class.  For the uninitiated, ALDI is a very bare bones grocery store. Not bare bones in selection, bare bones in frippery. Cartons are more or less opened up and placed on shelves and racks. There are no baggers. There are no bags provided. You must either bring your own, buy them there, or scavenge empty cartons from around the store. You can't get a cart without a 25 cent deposit.

A bolt cutter will work, too.

     The stripped down nature of ALDI allows prices to be kept fairly low compared to other stores. On an average trip, about $60 will get us 40-60 items. Canned food is super cheap, as is frozen. Produce is generally hit or miss if you don't get it right as it's put out.  Almost everything is ALDI's house brand.  Occasionally, they carry actual name brands. We've found BocaBurgers and Pizzeria Uno frozen pizzas before, and at extremely good prices. ALDI also has a very nice meat and fancy cheese selection.

     If you're truly lucky, your ALDI will have a liquor section. This is wonderful because ALDI is based out of Germany. That means their house label beers are actually imported Germany and Holland. They also have a nice selection of wines and other lighter drinks. No hard liquor is available at ALDI, which is a complete shame because I would never have to shop anywhere else.

     The only downfall of ALDI is the propensity of their stores to be placed in sketchy locations. Sometimes you'll luck out and the store will be somewhere nice. Our current store at any time boasts a clientele similar to what you would find in a Wal-Mart at about 2:30 in the morning. You learn to make sacrifices for value.