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Those of you who know me realize that I couldn't exactly be called slender or svelte. Actually, I try to think of myself having a very "powerful" build. But since I've returned to the real world from Maine, I've been trying to lose some of my "power". So, I've been working on some low fat recipes.
This is a great side dish to accompany most anything. It's quick to assemble, and fairly easy to hold in the oven while you finish up the rest of dinner. The only real amount of fat in this is the cheese-- use enough for flavor, but don't go overboard! This recipe is really going to be a series of instructions, rather than exact quantities. The concept here is what's important, but use enough to fill whatever baking dish that you have.
Ingredients:
Baking potatoes
Onions, chopped finely
Cheese, grated (I prefer something with a strong flavor, like smoked cheddar)
Farm-Rich non-dairy creamer (non-fat)
Mustard
"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray
Wondra superfine flour
Old Bay seasoning (look by the fish counter in the supermarket, if you can't find it elsewhere)
· Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
· Slice the potatoes. If you want (and most people do), peel them first. I prefer to leave the skins on, so I just wash the dirt off. I use a neat slicing device called a mandolin (no, it doesn't play music) to slice the potatoes--you probably don't have one. Just slice them as thin as possible without getting too anal-retentive about it. You don't need a lot of style points here.
· Spray your baking pan with the margarine spray.
· Put a layer of potatoes on the bottom of the baking pan.
· Spray the potatoes lightly with the margarine spray.
· Sprinkle a little of the Wondra flour over the potato layer. This will help the gratin thicken up since we are using fake cream. Wondra flour is milled to a superfine texture, and works much better at this sort of thing than all-purpose flour, which might get lumpy.
· Sprinkle on the onions, a little cheese (remember, we're trying to stay low fat here!), and a bit of the Old Bay for taste.
· Repeat the layers until your pan is about full.
· Mix some mustard with the Farm-rich fake cream, 1 or 2 tablespoons per cup. Pour enough of this mixture into the baking pan to almost come to the top of the potatoes. Cover with aluminum foil.
· Bake covered for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake until the gratin looks solidified and starts browning, about 15 minutes or so (these times are very dependent on the size of your pan and the real temperature in your oven--it's best to check it ever 5-10 minutes or so after uncovering). You might want to throw just a little bit of cheese on top for the last 5 minutes or so.
If you want to, you could even add some ham or canadian bacon to the layers to make a main course! Or put layers of sliced turnips between the potato layers. Next time I try this, I'm going to add some thawed chopped artichoke hearts! Next week--let's help out Mom for thanksgiving! I got my first e-mail response this week, so now I know someone is paying attention! If you have any questions, comments or recipe requests, please e-mail me at prautenb@umich.edu. Keep those cards and letters coming!
... short on time. Remember what that BBA Blue Chip bachelor (one of the twins) responded when asked about his views on MBA life? Well, his answer was "What life?" Now I'll agree that because of the differences in the two programs our life here at the B-School can't be one beer-filled party after another (uh, at least for most of us) but we should be able to enjoy life outside school once in a while.
Believe it or not, A2 does provide plenty of opportunities for the time-pressured, cost-conscious individual. Now hold on, this article has nothing to do with buyer-behavior, the time value of money, the rise of mega-stores or Wal-Mart's expansion strategy. What I'd like to do is give you a few ideas of how you can get out of the daily academic ritual and spend a few hours in Ann arbor having fun without spending a lot of money. I'll try to keep my suggestions to things you can do in roughly two hours and where your cash outlay will be around $5 or less.
1. Go to the gym, no excuses just go!
If you're like me, you make daily excuses about why you don't have enough time to get to the gym for a quick work-out. An hour or so in the gym working up a sweat can do wonders for your psychological gas tank and best of all it's free. At least tuition does cover something.
2. Go for a walk in the Nichols Arboretum, maybe even play some frisbee
For those of you who haven't been there, the Arboretum is located at 1827 Geddes Avenue (not far from the B-School) and is open (officially) during daylight hours. It is a great place to take a walk through the trees and just escape from the city for a while. Take a book, sit by the river and read or even a frisbee and hang out on one of the grass fields. This one's free too but you better get there before it's too cold, maybe you're already too late.
3. If it's cold outside check out a museum, one of the fun ones is the Hands-on Museum
You'll find the Hands-on Museum at 219 E. Huron Street and it's open from 10-5:30pm Tue-Fri. This museum has about 200 interactive exhibits so you can get in on the fun, and is set in the city's old fire hall. It costs just $2.50 for students and should provide a nice break from studying.
4. If you like the cold outside, go canoeing on the Huron River
Believe it or not, you can rent canoes from the North Campus Recreational Building (763-4560). You might have to wait until spring for this one but grab a group of friends and take a couple of hours to visit nature. I'm sure it will be a great way to take an afternoon off.
5. Do you like to read? If so, take a couple of hours to spend some time in Border's
Everybody must know Border's book shop but just in case, it is the big book shop on E. Liberty. Instead of taking the normal approach of going into the shop and checking out books for two hours, I want to suggest something else. Go to Dave's Used Bookstore just down the street (towards State), buy a used book (roughly $2) and then go up to the Border's coffee shop, get a cup and start reading. Trust me it is enjoyable to read something besides textbooks or the WSJ.
6. Did you hate reading as a kid? Then stop by Pinball Pete's
As a kid there was nothing better than taking a handful of quarter's into an arcade and blowing a couple of hours. Well, now it won't be wasting time but actually stress relief. Pinball Pete's on S. University near Burger King has all the old games and if you spend more than $5 in less than two hours, video games are not your bag.
7. If video games are not your thing, try the married couples date
What is the married couples date you ask? Get comfortable on the couch, send someone to Blockbuster and rent a movie. Ok, this may not be original but it still works. This is a great opportunity to catch up on some of the movies we have missed since entering school. If you are looking for some classics, I guess The Graduate would be appropriate.
8. So you want to go out?
Try the Blind Pig (207 S. Ashley-- near the Fleetwood Diner, 662-8310). They have live music 6 nights a week. There is a cover --usually $5 but usually worth it. If you stay there too long, #8b is go to Fleetwood's for breakfast.
I hope that this has given you some ideas of what to do with that non-existent spare time that you have. Just in case you felt something was missing from the list be sure to check out these Ann Arbor classics:
-Penny pitchers at Rick on Friday's from 3-6pm (a good way to forget about that Econ midterm, $4 cover leaves you with 100 pitchers to get rid of that fiver in your pocket).
-On St. Patrick's Day be sure to get up early before class and head to Scorekeeper's for green eggs, ham and green beer, I guarantee you'll see Marketing in a whole new light.
Lastly, there is always the Naked Mile (sometime this spring) which takes merely 7-10 minutes depending on your conditioning.
Well have fun and if you're still looking for more check out the Discover Ann Arbor and Ypsi guide which is in the Student Lounge.