Pittsburgh – College Cooking with Celia

Weekly Gratitude #17

Sophomore year is finally officially done! And I am home for 2 weeks before I head back to Pittsburgh to work and take some classes over the summer. I am SO excited to be home and to see my brothers and my dad for the first time since Christmas. And to relax and get some good reading in 🙂

This week was finals week which is of course incredibly stressful, but there are of course things to be grateful for! Lemme know below what you’re thankful for this week! I’d love to chat 🙂

This week I’m thankful for:

Waking up in time for Easter service
Making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Studying ochem with Rachel
Lying on the floor
Doing well on my practice exam
Catching up on my tv shows
Feeling pretty confident about my ochem final!!
Free dinner at Piada because of rewards
Chilling on Rachel’s porch to celebrate surviving ochem!!
Ice cream runs
Silly life chats until 2 am
Parallel parking successfully (47 turns later)
Good gym days
Queer Eye and dinner with Shelby
Homewrecker birthday dinners
Free dinner for playing at commencement
Killing my stat exam
Fried rice
A whole day of relaxing
Watching movies with my people
Quesadillas
Packing (I like the organization of it haha)
Driving home

Quick and Easy Tacos

I’ve already written about breakfast tacos on the blog, and today I’m sharing my regular taco recipe. It couldn’t be easier; mostly because I just use the seasoning packets from the grocery store 😉

I know that the best homemade tacos are made with all the important spices: cumin, pepper, chilis, garlic, etc. But we’re poor college kids, we don’t want to have to buy all these different (expensive) spices that we won’t use that often. So I always just buy a taco seasoning pack (think Old El Paso), because they’re so cheap and so easy.

Along with meat for my tacos, I love black beans, tomatoes, avocado, and cheese. But you could also add lettuce, onions, peppers, rice, sour cream. Whatever you have in your fridge works! Don’t have tortillas or taco shells? Make some rice and make it a bowl to have some homemade (super cheap) Chipotle or make taco salads for lunch during the week. It couldn’t be easier and tastier. We love easy meal prep.

So here’s the quick and easy taco recipe that I make all the time. Again, feel free to add or take away anything based on what you have!

Quick and Easy Tacos

Cook time: about 15 minutes

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 pound of ground meat (beef or turkey)
One taco seasoning packet
Small tortillas (corn or flour)
1 can of black beans
1/2 an avocado, sliced
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
Cheese, shredded, (cheddar or jack cheeses are best)

Instructions

In a pan on medium heat, cook the ground beef until brown
At the same time, in 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat, cook the black beans until thick and warmed through.
Add seasoning pack and follow instructions (usually, add water) and cook meat until thick.
Top tortillas with meat, cheese, and all other toppings of choice and enjoy

Weekly Gratitude #6

This week felt SO long as it was the first week in awhile that we haven’t had a day off. It was also super weird weather wise– 60° on Sunday and Monday, and then cold again later in the week, along with so much rain. But we made it through the week and now it’s time to grind for midterm season. I think I have 4 in the next 3 weeks. But we’re stayin positive and being thankful, even if we’re a little annoyed about the warm weather and soaking wet shoes.

Let me know below what you’re thankful for this week! I’d love to chat 🙂

This week I’m thankful for:

Bubble tea dates and sitting in the sunshine
Making homemade bread
Super Bowl parties with lots of snacks
Planning my summer vacation
Having ochem lab cancelled
Valentine’s Day care packages from my mama
My Italian prof deciding that instead of a midterm exam we’re gonna go to the art museum and discuss art!
Coffee dates
Breakfast sandwiches
Pouring plates for the first time at work (to grow yeast on!)
Getting a good grade on my ochem test last week
Making the BEST lemon chicken and relaxing at home while it rains
Homemade pizza
Movie nights
Insomnia cookies
Habitat for Humanity workdays
Grey’s Anatomy episodes that make you cry
Rom coms
Pizza nights with my bffs

Pulled Pork Pasta

I very loosely consider myself the queen of leftovers. I really enjoying having a bit of a “Chopped” competition with myself to see what I can come up with based on the leftovers in the fridge.

Last week I had about two servings of pulled pork left in the freezer, onions and garlic, and leftover pasta and crushed tomatoes (from my tuna and asparagus pasta). So I worked with what I had and made the BEST pasta sauce I’ve made in awhile. There’s not much more to say other than that haha so here it is, my pulled pork pasta sauce:

Pulled Pork Pasta

Cook time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 servings of pulled pork (make sure you have some grease)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/3 large can of crushed tomatoes
Red pepper flakes
Basil
About 8 ounces of pasta, cooked
Cheese, shredded (mozzarella, parmesan, etc.)

Instructions

In about 2 tablespoons of grease from the pulled pork, sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat, seasoning with salt and pepper, until translucent about 7 minutes.
Add the pulled pork and cook for about 7 minutes until warmed through.
Add the tomatoes and season with red pepper flakes and basil to taste, and cook for about 10 minutes until steaming and thick.
Add the pasta to the pan and cook until pasta is warmed through and everything has combined (get those flavors melding!)
Top with cheese and serve!

Weekly Gratitude #4

A shortened week is always a good week in my book, so this week absolutely flew by. We’ve also had a ton of weird weather, from a high of 9 degrees on Monday to a high of 50 on Wednesday. It’s back to being cold again but this has definitely been a good week. Lots of ochem studying, but also celebrating my BFF/roommate’s birthday 🙂

I hope this week has been good to you, but if not, try and find the small good things anyway. And rest assured that next week can be better! Let me know below what you’re thankful for this week!

This week I’m thankful for:

Cozy sweaters and my radiator when it’s 9 degrees outside
Catching up with my BFF Carissa
A short week
The baked oatmeal I meal-prepped this week
The pulled pork I meal prepped this week
The homemade sesame chicken I made on Wednesday
A couple of good workouts
Snow
Celebrating my BFF/roomate Deena’s birthday with grilled cheese and cake
Getting all dressed up
Seeing In The Heights (my fave musical!!!) with Deena and Josh
Laughing a LOT as we adventured through the city before and after the show
Deep cleaning the apartment
Productive Saturday afternoons
Chocolate covered pretzels
Sunday brunch with my girl Shelby
Phone calls home

Weekly Gratitude #2

This week was my first week back at school after break, so it’s been long and tiring, but also exciting as we start new classes and have a little more time for fun before homework and tests pile up. And we had snow! Which always makes me extraordinarily happy.

This week I’m grateful for:

Chocolate croissants from Starbucks
Reading books
Snow
Cold weather
New classes
Quirky professors
Going to the gym
Warm sweaters and socks and all the cozy things
Basketball games where we actually win!
Nachos
Band concerts
Life chats
Pizza parties
Deep cleaning the apartment
Days spent relaxing and watching movies
Dark chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter

Mama’s Italian Wedding Soup

I am the biggest soup fan. I love cold weather and being cozy, so soup goes along with that perfectly. Canned soups are always a go to because they’re easy, but homemade soup is even better. And surprisingly easy!

My mom makes this Italian wedding soup for us at home and it is SO good. It’s hearty, it’s got some spice to it, it’s wicked easy, and it’s delicious.

Pro tip- this recipe makes a lot, so you can put a bunch of it in a Tupperware in the freezer and save it for later! Which is great when you get back to your apartment after winter break and actually have zero food.

Pro tip number 2- for the minced garlic, don’t buy a jar of pre-minced garlic; it’s way more expensive than buying whole garlic and mincing it (chopping it into tiny pieces) yourself.

Mama’s Italian Wedding Soup

Cook time: approximately 35 minutes

Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 cup yellow onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup carrot, diced

1 cup ham, diced

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

6 cups chicken broth

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf (if you don’t have this that’s okay! I didn’t and it still tasted great)

30 uncooked cocktail sized meatballs

1 (15 ounce) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups (or more if you’d like) of whole spinach leaves

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (a few tablespoons of dried works also!)

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

On medium high heat and in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cook the onion, celery, carrot, ham, and garlic until the onion is translucent and everything is soft.
Add the chicken broth, oregano, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Drop in the meatballs and cook for 7 minutes.
Stir in the beans, spinach, and parsley and cook until the spinach is wilted and the soup is simmering again.
While the soup is simmering, combine the beaten eggs and parmesan cheese. Take the soup off the heat and add in the egg mixture.
Top with extra parmesan cheese and serve, or freeze and enjoy later!

The Journey Begins

Hi everyone! I’m Cecelia, a stressed out college kid in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I’m 19, and a self-declared band nerd and book lover who loves the stars, mountains, and being in the kitchen. It’s my happy place and where I find myself when I’m overwhelmed by studying organic chemistry and writing lab reports.

I grew up helping both my parents cook, so it’s something that comes naturally to me. But, I know not everyone feels excitement at the prospect of making up something for dinner using whatever happens to be in the fridge. So I decided to share my love for cooking (along with a sprinkling of what little life advice I have at the age of 19) to help out any other college kids out there who may be overwhelmed about cooking, growing up, organic chemistry, and everything in between.

So come along for the ride! And before you know it, you’ll be making homemade pasta sauce and remembering to take out the trash like a pro.