Soup: Maria's Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Entrée: Rice Crackers with Assorted Dips
Cheese: Stella Fontinella, Two Sisters Dutch Gouda
Dessert: Peanut Butter and Jelly on Toast Points
Like a waterfall in slow motion, Part One
3 years ago
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Poor College Students Support Other Poor College Students
Did you forget it was Mother's Day? Why not buy your mom some Mimi Truffles? Handmade by our fellow friends Poor College Students Megan and Melissa, these truffles come in delicious flavors like Hazelnut, Blueberry Muffin and Red Velvet. At 3 for $4, these are a steal! Place an order online through their website or buy them in person at Westside Market on 110th and Broadway!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Cheap Drinks at Starbucks
Mmm, coffee. The sustenance for most college students. It's not uncommon to hear your friend, classmate, professor, TA...or anyone on campus really saying "I need coffee." We live off caffeine...but for the most part, it costs money.
Now, if you like brand name (and in my opinion, not so great) Starbucks coffee, you can spend nearly $4 dollars on an iced latte. Imagine getting 3 or 4 lattes a day during study week! That's a lot of caffeine! That's even more money!
For full disclosure, this may or may not work at all Starbucks. Some of the baristas know of the following trick, but if it works...score!
When it's your time to order, say "I'd like n shots of espresso poured over a tall/grande/vente cup of ice, thanks" and after receiving said cup, go to the napkin/straw/sugar/milk area and fill your cup with milk! Each shot of espresso is approximately 55 cents, and if you want a flavored latte, each flavor shot is 55 cents too! Talk about reasonably priced!
Another Starbucks pointer - there is another size of drinks called "short." It's on the register, so you're not making it up when you ask for it. It's an 8 ounce cup that is 1/3 less expensive than the tall! If you are looking for flavor over caffeine, this option saves you money and calories!
Next time you go to Starbucks, try these tips out!
(Author's note: I fully support smaller coffee shops and chains, such as Oren's and Joe the Art of coffee, so you should just buy their drinks. Also, they know the iced latte trick, and probably won't let you get away with it - and for good reason! Their coffee tastes GOOD.)
Now, if you like brand name (and in my opinion, not so great) Starbucks coffee, you can spend nearly $4 dollars on an iced latte. Imagine getting 3 or 4 lattes a day during study week! That's a lot of caffeine! That's even more money!
For full disclosure, this may or may not work at all Starbucks. Some of the baristas know of the following trick, but if it works...score!
When it's your time to order, say "I'd like n shots of espresso poured over a tall/grande/vente cup of ice, thanks" and after receiving said cup, go to the napkin/straw/sugar/milk area and fill your cup with milk! Each shot of espresso is approximately 55 cents, and if you want a flavored latte, each flavor shot is 55 cents too! Talk about reasonably priced!
Another Starbucks pointer - there is another size of drinks called "short." It's on the register, so you're not making it up when you ask for it. It's an 8 ounce cup that is 1/3 less expensive than the tall! If you are looking for flavor over caffeine, this option saves you money and calories!
Next time you go to Starbucks, try these tips out!
(Author's note: I fully support smaller coffee shops and chains, such as Oren's and Joe the Art of coffee, so you should just buy their drinks. Also, they know the iced latte trick, and probably won't let you get away with it - and for good reason! Their coffee tastes GOOD.)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
How to win at Maoz
Not too long ago, a new Maoz opened up near campus. In case you haven't discovered it or heard about yet, Maoz is a vegetarian restaurant chain that serves extremely delicious falafel sandwiches.
Now, I know plenty of vegetarians, but I know more omnivores who will say "Wait, what?? Only vegetables?? I can't get full from only eating vegetables!"
Omnivores, fear not. I will teach you how to win at Maoz.
There are a few "meal deals" at Maoz: a Maoz sandwich, fries, and a drink; a Junior Maoz sandwich (half the size of a regular Maoz sandwich), fries, and a drink; a salad and a juice. These cost $7 or $8 but are nice deals because the salad bar is free and you can keep going back for more. This is key!
However, the other great thing about the salad bar is that you don't have to order a salad to utilize it- if you get a sandwich you can stuff the top with salad bar vegetables too, which, by the way, are varied and plentiful.
Seven or eight dollars isn't too bad, but what if you don't care for fries or a drink and want to spend under $5? That happens, right?
This is what you do.
1. Order to stay in. This is key! You'll see why.
2. Order a full sandwich. You could get a half sandwich, but a full one only costs 70 more cents!
3. Receive your sandwich.
4. Take a fork, and eat the sandwich filling (falafel, etc), leaving the pita bread more or less intact. This is key! You'll see why.
5. Take the pita bread and return to the salad bar.
6. Stuff the bread with salad bar food (Chickpeas, eggplant, carrots, broccoli, etc... they may sound boring here but they are cooked fantastically!! ), using the bread as a salad bowl.
7. Eat the renewed sandwich filling with your fork. (Or fingers, whatever)
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until satisfied.
9. Return to salad bar and drench pita bread in dressing of choice (eg. yogurt sauce, garlic sauce, tahini sauce, white sauce)
10. Eat pita bread.
See? See how much food you can get out of that? What's more, it was totally flavorful every step of the way. Omnivores, even those of you so devoted to eating meat will forget your carnivorous inclinations when you've taken these ten (or more) easy steps.
Try it!!
You are welcome.
Now, I know plenty of vegetarians, but I know more omnivores who will say "Wait, what?? Only vegetables?? I can't get full from only eating vegetables!"
Omnivores, fear not. I will teach you how to win at Maoz.
There are a few "meal deals" at Maoz: a Maoz sandwich, fries, and a drink; a Junior Maoz sandwich (half the size of a regular Maoz sandwich), fries, and a drink; a salad and a juice. These cost $7 or $8 but are nice deals because the salad bar is free and you can keep going back for more. This is key!
However, the other great thing about the salad bar is that you don't have to order a salad to utilize it- if you get a sandwich you can stuff the top with salad bar vegetables too, which, by the way, are varied and plentiful.
Seven or eight dollars isn't too bad, but what if you don't care for fries or a drink and want to spend under $5? That happens, right?
This is what you do.
1. Order to stay in. This is key! You'll see why.
2. Order a full sandwich. You could get a half sandwich, but a full one only costs 70 more cents!
3. Receive your sandwich.
4. Take a fork, and eat the sandwich filling (falafel, etc), leaving the pita bread more or less intact. This is key! You'll see why.
5. Take the pita bread and return to the salad bar.
6. Stuff the bread with salad bar food (Chickpeas, eggplant, carrots, broccoli, etc... they may sound boring here but they are cooked fantastically!! ), using the bread as a salad bowl.
7. Eat the renewed sandwich filling with your fork. (Or fingers, whatever)
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until satisfied.
9. Return to salad bar and drench pita bread in dressing of choice (eg. yogurt sauce, garlic sauce, tahini sauce, white sauce)
10. Eat pita bread.
See? See how much food you can get out of that? What's more, it was totally flavorful every step of the way. Omnivores, even those of you so devoted to eating meat will forget your carnivorous inclinations when you've taken these ten (or more) easy steps.
Try it!!
You are welcome.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
In which Poor College Students attempt to be Takeru Kobayashi
Today my friend entered a hot dog eating contest - and ate one hot dog. She entered just for a free lunch.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
How to win at your local supermarket
You know how sometimes you want to buy fruit, but it's a little pricey?
$4.99 for one box of strawberries.... whaaaat?
Well, sometimes all you have to do is look around in the store for a cheaper option, because it might be further inside the store.
Other times, you don't have to look very far. For example, at this particular store, all I had to do was turn around 180 degrees and I found a winning deal.
A quarter of the price!!
$4.99 for one box of strawberries.... whaaaat?Well, sometimes all you have to do is look around in the store for a cheaper option, because it might be further inside the store.
Other times, you don't have to look very far. For example, at this particular store, all I had to do was turn around 180 degrees and I found a winning deal.
A quarter of the price!!Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Super-size and Save
Although America is facing an obesity epidemic because of it's need to super-size portions, you have to admit super-sizing has some merits. The cost to quantity ratio is just too good to ignore sometimes. As much as I would LOVE to have a discussion about America's waist line problems..this is a site dedicated to poor college students, and not college student discussions.
I love cold green tea. It's very refreshing, and has 0 calories. Normally, I purchase a bottle that contains only 2 servings, or approximately half a liter of tea, for about $2, plus tax. A lot to spend on a liquid, right?
Well, I went to my neighborhood supermarket one day, and found a whopping TWO liter sized bottle of the same tea from the same brand! And the news gets better! It was only FOUR dollars! Did I really just get 8 servings of my favorite green tea for only $2 more? Yes I did! This two liter sized bottle will last for days, and means I just saved $6!
Super-sizing has its time and place, and when it concerns my favorite, usually overpriced beverage, I give super-sizing a resounding thumbs up!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Poor College (and High School) Students
This Poor College Student is involved with his school's admissions office, and volunteers for events during our annual yield season when we try to convince accepted students to enroll in our school.
For students who can't come for one of three different overnight programs, we offer a day program that lasts for the month of April. During this day program, students are staffed at a table to answer any visiting admitted students' questions, and takes admitted students to the dining hall for a free lunch to talk more in-depth information about the school. Though I the dining hall isn't the best place in the neighborhood to eat... it would be a free meal if I volunteered for the program.
I signed up for every single day that I was available.
Note to any Poor High School Students out there, go visit the schools that you were accepted to and maybe they'll give you a free lunch!
For students who can't come for one of three different overnight programs, we offer a day program that lasts for the month of April. During this day program, students are staffed at a table to answer any visiting admitted students' questions, and takes admitted students to the dining hall for a free lunch to talk more in-depth information about the school. Though I the dining hall isn't the best place in the neighborhood to eat... it would be a free meal if I volunteered for the program.
I signed up for every single day that I was available.
Note to any Poor High School Students out there, go visit the schools that you were accepted to and maybe they'll give you a free lunch!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Brunch or Baby
Poor college student really needs to see someone about managing money/time/hunger. This post may sound familiar as the same poor college student had to decide between money and birth control. Only hunger won.
A few months ago, I had only $50 dollars in my account. I wasn't going to have any money till the weekend, and it was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving break. A dear friend asked if I wanted to get brunch at Community Food and Juice - sometimes delish, always pricey. However, I also needed to buy birth control, which was a hefty sum of $40.
Poor college student knew what she needed to buy but alas...hunger prevailed.
There are many lessons to be learned:
1. Prioritize your finances: You're friends will give you a bowl of cereal if you are hungry, or you can get a bagel which only costs $1. There are some things money can't buy, but in this case, money buys you your birth control.
2. When desperate, your friends are there for you: I learned after the fact that my friends would have loaned me the money for my bcp if I asked, because they too know how important somethings in life are.
3. Don't drink and eat without thinking: I drank heavily the night before, and as some people know about me, I love a huge hangover breakfast. I did not think about my bcp until after the fact, after charging about $20-odd dollars to my account. Huge d'oh.
Drunk pangs of hunger can never trump true necessities. And thinking before eating can save you from a month of trauma!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
How to win at Chipotle
Do you like Chipotle? The delicious cilantro-lime rice, excellent beans, meat cooked to perfection, and the flour tortilla that wraps all of it together?
And the guacamole? Oh, the guacamole. Sooooooo good. "Made from fresh avocados, hand mashed, three times a day", like they say. But who likes to pay an extra $2-something for it, on top of a $7 or $8 burrito?
Chipotle is so good, but you can end up paying a lot more than you have to and then falling uncomfortably into a food coma afterward. That is what happens when you get a burrito (or even a burrito bowl) with (or even without) guacamole, but it doesn't have to happen. You can eat exactly what you want and pay less and feel great when you're done eating. You can win, bean and cheese burritos aside. You can win.
Here's how you can win at Chipotle.
1. Ask for two tacos (I like soft tacos).
2. Specify that you want one vegetarian, one with meat of your choosing (I like chicken).
3. Get rice on both tacos, and beans on one, peppers and onions on the other. (Or both ingredients on both tacos- I don't think it matters)
4. Ask for the meat on the tacos with beans and rice. This is important!!! Meat must only go on ONE taco!
5. Move on to toppings. I like to get everything: salsa (mild), corn, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce. Get the generic toppings on BOTH tacos. Then ask for guacamole on the other, only-veggie taco. This is important!!! Guac must only go on the taco with NO MEAT!
6. Pay. Make sure that the cashier knows it is two tacos vs. three (which costs $8). It is under $6 and I'd have gotten everything I wanted at a good quantity.
Under $6 for meat AND guacamole? WIN-WIN! How did this happen?
Guacamole comes free in vegetarian tacos, so if you keep one taco meat-free, you don't have to pay for the guacamole you get on the veggie one.
You may think two tacos will not fill you up, as I thought before I switched from burrito bowls to two tacos. But, surprisingly, it does. If you like eating burrito bowl style, you can dump the contents of the tacos into a bowl, too. Then it's like you got a burrito bowl with free tortillas! For under $6!!!
WIN!
You are welcome.
And the guacamole? Oh, the guacamole. Sooooooo good. "Made from fresh avocados, hand mashed, three times a day", like they say. But who likes to pay an extra $2-something for it, on top of a $7 or $8 burrito?
Chipotle is so good, but you can end up paying a lot more than you have to and then falling uncomfortably into a food coma afterward. That is what happens when you get a burrito (or even a burrito bowl) with (or even without) guacamole, but it doesn't have to happen. You can eat exactly what you want and pay less and feel great when you're done eating. You can win, bean and cheese burritos aside. You can win.
Here's how you can win at Chipotle.
1. Ask for two tacos (I like soft tacos).
2. Specify that you want one vegetarian, one with meat of your choosing (I like chicken).
3. Get rice on both tacos, and beans on one, peppers and onions on the other. (Or both ingredients on both tacos- I don't think it matters)
4. Ask for the meat on the tacos with beans and rice. This is important!!! Meat must only go on ONE taco!
5. Move on to toppings. I like to get everything: salsa (mild), corn, sour cream, cheese, and lettuce. Get the generic toppings on BOTH tacos. Then ask for guacamole on the other, only-veggie taco. This is important!!! Guac must only go on the taco with NO MEAT!
6. Pay. Make sure that the cashier knows it is two tacos vs. three (which costs $8). It is under $6 and I'd have gotten everything I wanted at a good quantity.
Under $6 for meat AND guacamole? WIN-WIN! How did this happen?
Guacamole comes free in vegetarian tacos, so if you keep one taco meat-free, you don't have to pay for the guacamole you get on the veggie one.
You may think two tacos will not fill you up, as I thought before I switched from burrito bowls to two tacos. But, surprisingly, it does. If you like eating burrito bowl style, you can dump the contents of the tacos into a bowl, too. Then it's like you got a burrito bowl with free tortillas! For under $6!!!
WIN!
You are welcome.
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