Ms. Frugal

2/3 cup ranch salad dressing

2 cups crushed cornflakes

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Pour salad dressing into a shallow bowl.  In another shallow bowl, combine the cornflake crumbs, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.  Dip chicken in dressing, then coat with crumb mix.

Place in a greased shallow baking pan.  Bake at 400 for 30-35 minutes or until juices run clear.

I have made a step toward helping the environment.  I bought two giant canvas bags from the store the other day.  Granted, between the two of them I spent $23, but I feel better about what I’m doing.  I never have to worry about getting all those plastic bags from the supermarket or when I just do regular shopping.  I also know that this thing is never going to tear on me or anything like that.  It is really nice to have that knowledge.  Not only can I carry my groceries, but I can carry my law books.  Which I’d better go back to studying…

It is finals weeks for law students.  Of course we’re drained, but there isn’t too much time for sleep.  I’ve found that so far this week, I only have four hours of sleep.  And most of those weren’t very restful.  I fell asleep on my books in the library and woke up with a stiff neck.  I walked around the study room in the hopes of waking myself up a bit by getting the blood flowing, but I received a much better treat.  Apparently, during finals weeks here, yeah finals last for two weeks, they have free Starbucks coffee in the library cafe every night.  Fourteen days of free Starbucks.  I am so happy and wired.

I’m still on the asparagus kick.  It is so good for you though.

4 small red potatoes, cut into small wedges

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 pound fresh asparagus, cut

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons minced chives

1/8 teaspoon salt

Dash of pepper

Place potatoes in a large saucepan; cover with water.  Bring to a boil; cook for 5-6 minutes or just until tender.

In a large skilled, bring 1/2 inch of water to a boil.  Add the asparagus ; cover and boil for 3 minutes.  Drain and immediately place the asparagus in ice water.  Drain and pat dry.  Cut into 1 inch pieces

Drain potatoes and place in a large bowl; add asparagus.  In a small bowl combine the mustard and lemon juice; whisk in oil until combined.  Add chives, salt, and pepper.  Pour over vegetables and toss to coat.  Serve warm.

Two of my friends recently bought pedometers.  They said that knowing how many miles they walk a day has really changed their life.  Despite how much time we all spend in the law library, they’ve been logging over nine miles a day.  I decided to buy myself a cheap one.  I don’t need something that monitors my heart rate, that can beam information to my computer, and can give me statistical breakdowns of my walking over the last six months.  I just need one that tells me how many miles a day I go.   The last two days I’ve averaged 7.5 miles.  I’m hoping to stay at that for the next two weeks and then add another two miles.  I really think being aware of how far you’re walking is a frugal way to get in shape.

I found out that in my role as President of the Law Student Association, I get the code to the copier.  This is going to help me save so much money.  I’ve easily spent $250 this semester just on copying things.  I think they need to give us a course packet and stop all this dime and quartering that they’re doing to us.  I’m not sure why we have to spend all the money on books if they hardly ever make us read them.  I’m sure that somewhere in the legal code there is some provision about making law students spend a lot of money so that we will continually sue people once we’ve earned our degrees.  I’ll do my best to break that trend.  Especially now since I don’t have to pay for copies anymore :)

I find myself craving junk food more and more lately.  I told myself that I need to eat more vegetables, so I found this quick little way to make them more edible.

Roasted Asparagus

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Place the asparagus on an ungreased baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper; turn to coat.  Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until tender.

You can save whatever you don’t eat by tossing it in a tupperware container and throwing it in the fridge.

I took a trip out to Target with my carpool group.  There were five of us and someone made the comment that we weren’t all going to fit on the way back because she was going to buy so much stuff.  I thought she was kidding.  She really wasn’t.  We all rid back to the city with bags of her stuff on our laps.  Even the driver.  The trunk was full too.  She just signed a new lease for next year and is moving into her place this weekend.  Why you go out and buy stuff before you move doesn’t make sense to me.  Maybe once she gets to her new apartment, she’ll realize certain things are unnecessary because of space issues or they’ve already been provided.  It doesn’t make financial sense to me.  But then again, she’s not Ms. Frugal so maybe it isn’t as important to her.

Loyal readers, get your shopping carts ready.  I was flipping through the paper from the weekend and saw that the grocery store Giant is having a huge sale.  Nearly all of the products in the store have additional markdowns.  I’d never heard of this type of advertising for food.  The flyer I looked at seemed like it had originally been for a clothing store and changed at the last minute to deal with food.  Oh well, I’m excited.  Although I made a small stockup trip last month, I’m already desperate for new food.  These last few weeks of class are hectic and I know it is only going to get worse.

I’ve tried making these twice. The first time I made them, they were great. The last time I whipped them up, they were terrible. I was talking on the phone when I made them the second time, so it wouldn’t surprise me if I screwed up. It is also a really cheap recipe. Let me know what you think!

1 (15 oz) can Green Chile Sauce with Chicken

3 cups hot cooked long grain white rice (I like brown rice personally)

3 cups cooked chicken, cubed

5 large green bell peppers

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Spray a 9″ x 13″ dish with non-stick .

3) In a large bowl, mix the green chilie sauce with hot rice and cubed chicken. Set aside.

4) Assemble bell peppers by cutting in half and removing the membranes. Then fill each pepper half with the rie and chicken, dividing evenly.

5) Place pepper halves in the prepared baking dish and bake covered for 45 minutes.

6) Top each pepper with cheese and chopped red bell pepper. Bake uncovered an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Yields 5 servings.