One day, I’d like to discover a huge trust fund that’s been hidden from me my whole life. I will bathe in black and white truffles, brush my teeth with foie gras, exfoliate my face with Caspian Osetra Caviar… maybe I’ll take a casual weekend trip to The Fat Duck or something. I’ll bring friends and family with me and at the end of the meal say, “nah, nah, I got it.” But for now… truffle oil will have to suffice. I’ll buy the dried version of Chantrelles and eat tobiko off of the California rolls my friend usually pushes aside. Life is so hard.

Truffle oil makes me feel like I’m rich without greedily taking away from my wallet. I love how a few drops can go such a long way. One of my favorite things to do on a lazy night is boil pasta, mince a few cloves of garlic, grate up some Parmesan and drizzle with the oil. Quick, easy, elegant, and scrumptious. A great tip that I picked up is that there is a big difference between pasta and egg noodles when using truffles. Egg noodles have a very silky texture, compared to pasta where it is much more starchy and chewy. Silky textures and truffles are truly a match made in heaven.

And getting into heaven is not hard at all. You only need a few ingredients:

Ingredients:
8 ounces Egg Noodles
3/4 pint Heavy Cream
3 tbs White Truffle Oil*
3 tbs Butter

Top with:
Grated Parmesan
Chopped Chives
Salt and Pepper

*I found this truffle oil in TJ Maxx’s homegoods sections. Most food specialty stores will have it, sometimes Stop & Shop has it too.

Directions:

1) Boil a pot of salted water for pasta

2) Mix butter with white truffle oil

3) In a saucepan, bring heavy cream to a simmer. Add truffle oil and butter mixture and let it melt. Season with salt and pepper and mix.
( I sauteed garlic and ham first, but optional)

3) Add egg noodles to boiling water. Cook until tender. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and add noodles to cream sauce.

4) Coat the noodles with cream sauce to absorb the flavor. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water to have desired amount of thickness.

5) Plate pasta.

6) Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top and garnish with chopped chives.

Bon appétit!

Prep time: 25 minutes
Level: Easy
Servings: 2 people
Total Cost of Recipe Amount: $11
$13 white truffle oil bottle
$5 Parmesan
$3 butter
$3 chives
$3 heavy cream
$5 egg noodles (16 oz) 

This recipe saves me every time I feel like pulling that fire alarm when I crave cold, creamy, slowly churned ice cream. So Ben & Jerry, I sincerely apologize for leaving you guys, but I’m sure we’ll meet again in the future. Your calories are just too expensive and my expenses are quickly piling up! I’m sticking to my faux ice cream because it costs me only 200 calories with 0.6 grams of fat.

So what’s the secret? Frozen Fat Free Cool Whip. It’s cheap, convenient, and all you need to do is freeze it to get an ice-cream-like texture. It’s ridiculously easy, I promise! Just look:

Ingredients:
~1/4 Fat Free Cool Whip of container, frozen
1 cup strawberries, halved
2 Truvia packets (or another sweetener like Stevia)
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup water

Directions:
1)   Take cool whip out of freezer
2)   In a sauce pan, combine strawberries, sweetener, red wine and water on medium heat. When sauce is boiling, immediately reduce to low heat and cook until reduced to desired thickness (~5 minutes)
3)   Scoop out a quarter of cool whip from the container into a bowl and pour sauce on top
*If sauce is too thick: add water and simmer until satisfied with consistency.

Enjoy!

What are some of your favorite life-saver recipes?

Some people don’t have the time to make elaborate dinners or wait three hours for their sauces to simmer. Fortunately, I have the time and energy- but I am lazy. Oh, woe is me!

Therefore, I’d like to share my simple and delicious spaghetti recipe with my fellow lazy friends, exhausted parents on week nights and newbies in the kitchen that do not want to start another fire.

First, you’ll need a couple of ingredients:

Ingredients:
2 tbs Olive Oil
1 tbs butter (optional)
1  1/2 cups Crushed Tomatoes (with or without seasonings)
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 tbs Chopped Fresh Basil
4 Cloves Garlic (or to your taste)
4 oz Cappellini Pasta

Directions:

1)   Start boiling water with 1 tbs salt for pasta. Meanwhile…

2) On medium heat, heat olive oil and butter. Sautee garlic for two minutes and for the love of all good food in life, please do not burn it

3) Add crushed tomatoes, bring to a light simmer then turn to low heat

4) Add basil, mix and let the awesome aromas take over your kitchen

By this point, you will hear people in your house say “My god! What is that heavenly smell?” Refrain from boasting until you are completely finished cooking. Onward!

5)   Add pasta to boiling water. When al dente (~ 3 minutes) strain and add to sauce.

6) Add 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

7) Coat the pasta with sauce by tossing it together

8) Add some more Parmesan at the end if you'd like

True lazy home cooks will not be done at this point though. There are 2 more ingredients I left out before making this a truly simple and sluggish dish for the lazies.

9)   TV
10) Bed

 Enjoy!

Fabulous home cooks right here!

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Tartines

Panko Crusted Rack of Lamb

Baked Zucchini

Ham & Vegetables Crepes with Gruyere Sauce

A plate of goodness. Aww yeahhh...

Yep. It was a good, filling night.

Below is the tartine recipe to make you an hors d’oeuvre superstar!

Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Tartines
(From Epicurious with some tweaks)

1 French baguette (cut 1/2-inch thick)
3.5 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 tbs julienned sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbs julienned fresh basil
1 tps balsamic vinegar
2 tbs black olive tapenade
8 oz mild goat cheese log, cut 1/4-inch

1) Preheat oven to 350 F

Meanwhile…

2) Brush baguette slices with olive oil, face up on baking sheet
Toast in the oven for 7 minutes. When finished, set aside to cool but leave oven on.

3) Combine fresh and dried tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil

4) Spread each toast with tapenade, then place sliced goat cheese on top
*TIP* I used a wire to cut the cheese log. You can also use dental floss.

5) Scoop a teaspoon of tomato mixture on each toast. Sprinkle salt, pepper, olive oil for finishing touches and bake for 5 minutes.
Aaand voilà! You are now an hors d’oeuvre superstar!