Catering a wedding can be pricey. Check out my tips on how to chop a wedding budget on Big Girls Small Kitchen.

5-Ingredient hot dog creations for the end of summer.

Mediterranean-style: hummus, chopped onion, sprouts

Mexican: avocado, salsa, melted cheddar

Man’s Best Friend: beer-boiled, spicy mustard, chopped onion

Wiener Wink: bacon and cheddar wrapped

As seen on Big Girls Small Kitchen College

My latest article on Big Girls, Small Kitchen.

• 12 ounces canned tuna 
• juice of 1/4 lemon
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons mayo
• 1 1/2 heaping tablespoons plain nonfat greek yogurt
• lemon zest
• salt and pepper

Drain tuna then mix with lemon juice, scallions, celery and zest in medium bowl. Then add mayo and yogurt. You can use all yogurt and no mayo if you wish, but don’t put so much lemon juice if you do. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

For a healthy lunch, spread tuna salad on large leaves of Romaine lettuce, then roll the lettuce like a wrap. No carbs!

posted on Big Girls Small Kitchen

Penn State is ranked nationally for football and partying, but most impressive to foodies is its recognition as one of the most popular creameries in the country. As a freshman, for me that meant ice cream at all hours of the day–ice cream included in my on-campus meal plan. Brunch on Saturdays was French toast sticks, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns and Bittersweet Mint with gummy bears and crushed Oreos. Dinners ended with a scoop of Alumni Swirl, Coconut Chip or Peachy Paterno atop a gooey chocolate chip cookie from West dining halls. Late nights when we didn’t want to go out, my friends and I gossiped over bowls of WPSU Coffee Break doused in hot fudge – it’s a wonder I didn’t gain the Freshman 15 in the first two weeks of class.

Whether or not you go to Penn State, there’s an equally delicious dish lurking at any university dining hall. And it’s easy to justify the gluttony when you are a poor college student faced with a smorgasbord of calorie-laden options. (“I’m just getting my money’s worth!”) Fortunately, colleges are actually making strides to introduce healthier, more sustainable options in their cafeterias.

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME has been ranked No. 1 for food and dining services in The Princeton Review for four years. They buy locally and seasonally and very rarely use butter.

At Temple University, freshman Sara Gatti sees potential. “There’s the ‘Smart Portion’ option, but people rarely stop at that when there’s also a buffet of fried food to choose from.” Temple’s dining halls offer portioned meals to help students gauge exactly how much they are consuming.

To see how your college dining hall ranks, go to www.collegeprowler.com. In the mean time, graze through the top 10 best healthful dining hall lunches, real and imagined:

1. Sushi. Preferrably freshly made with no extra sauces or tempura, fried, ingredients. “It would be kinda difficult to have good sushi in a cafeteria,” says Valerie Stoltzfus, sophomore at Meredeith College in North Carolina. Yet she still advocates for it. “Since we are an all girls school, they like to offer a lot of options because most girls like to try to eat healthy.”

2. Made-to-Order Wraps. Sub rolls are vessels for heavier, greasier meats and sauces. Have you ever seen a meatball wrap? That’s because flimsy wraps can’t support the weight or soak up the grease. Opt for turkey breast with low fat cheese, avocado, lettuce and tomato. No need for mayo, the avocado is creamy enough.

3. Low cal soups with brown bread. Lentil soup is a great comfort dish and and at less than 200 calories per cup, it’s okay to go back for seconds.

4. Salad. The salad bar is a dangerous place. While salad has the potential to be the best low-cal, high-nutrient meal option, you have to sift through all the bacon bits, shredded cheese and creamy dressings to find the leafy greens. Try a salad of dark leafy greens (not iceberg!), beets, carrots, peas, red onions, pecans and a crumbly cheese (preferably goat). Then toss the salad with a couple dashes of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt to distribute it.

5. Make-Your-Own Stir Fry. Another danger zone if used improperly. Pile your bowl high with veggies, add shrimp or chicken and stick to only ONE spoonful of sauce (the real culprit of the bad rap Chinese food gets.) The nice thing about make-your-own bars is that you have control over the portion size.

6. Turkey burgers with sweet potato fries. Sometimes you just have to give in to cravings – but not totally. With lower fat and higher protein, turkey burgers definitely aren’t as juicy as Whoppers, but spice them up with some fresh salsa and you have a meal fit for a (burger) king.

7. Fresh fruit smoothies. If you’re ordering smoothies from your campus coffee shop, chances are they don’t contain not real fruit. Be assertive and ask your dining commons staff if they use fresh fruit and milk or yogurt (not ice cream) in their smoothies. When you’re in a hurry, a peanut butter, banana, and skim milk smoothie will give you the protein and carbs you need to keep going.

8. Cereal. Not exactly lunch, but when your options are pizza, fries, or mystery meat, there’s always the old cereal standby. Stick with whole grain cereals with fiber to keep you full, and sweeten it with fresh or dried fruit. Remember: if it turns your milk pink, green, blue, etc., the cereal you’re eating has probably got too much sugar.

9. Vegetarian options. Cafeterias are starting to offer more vegetarian options like tofu, vegetable pasta and tempeh. Chances are, the vegetarian options are going to be lower in fat and higher in vitamins.

10. Make a meal out of sides. When none of the entrees look appealing, dine the European way. If your cafeteria has smaller plates, choose one, fill it with a side of steamed veggies and polenta or brown rice, take it back to your seat and eat. Wait a few minutes before going back to get another plate to try a couple other sides. Spacing out your eating between servings gives your stomach time to tell your brain that its full, and using smaller dishes makes you feel like you’re getting more food than you actually are.

Alexia is a recent grad living in Lancaster, PA. She loves to travel, experiment in the kitchen, and shop locally. The best breakfast she’s ever had is Swedish Oatmeal Pancakes.

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup whole milk ricotta
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 jar tomato sauce
• fresh cracked pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

Peel eggplant and slice lengthwise into thin strips (about 1/8-inch thick). 

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile brush both sides of the eggplant strips with oil. 

“Grill” the eggplant strips in the skillet (even better if the skillet has ridges) until soft and flimsy. Remove from heat and place on paper towel to remove excess oil. Repeat with other eggplant strips.

Meanwhile, mix ricotta, parmesan, egg, parsley and fresh ground pepper in a separate bowl with hand mixer. Beat until cheese is lighter and whipped, about 5 minutes.

When all of the eggplant is cooked, spoon a heaping tablespoon of ricotta mixture on one short end of the strip. From that end, roll up the eggplant and ricotta into a cylinder.

Spoon some of the tomato sauce into the bottom of an 8x8 casserole dish into a thin layer. Place roll-ups in casserole dish in one layer. 

Cover with remaining sauce and sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until cheese melts.

Meals on Wheels

It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread (and coincidentally uses two pieces). The Grilled Cheese Truck is part of a new trend of street eating. On FindLAFoodTrucks.com, you can see Twitter feeds and whereabouts of about 56 different mobile eateries from baked goods to barbecue. Lucky for Alex and me, the Grilled Cheese and the Sweets Trucks were in the area.

Food trucks in L.A. aren’t like street food in New York or Philadelphia. Finding a truck is like a treasure hunt. Finding more than one in the same vicinity is a jackpot. So when the Grilled Cheese Truck tweeted that they’d be camping out by the Porsche dealer from 11:30 to 2, we set out on our journey. It should have been easy for us to spot the bright orange vendor, painted with dripping cheese, but we drove up and down the street a couple times before we spotted it. A big square block of cheese on wheels sharing macadam with sleek Porsches.

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Honey Balls, not just a term of endearment.

• 1/4 light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups raw, unsalted hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and boil large pot of water for blanching.

Once water has reached a rolling boil, pour in the hazelnuts and let them soak for one minute (no longer, or they will soften and taste stale). Drain the nuts and run ice cold water over them or pour them into a bowl of ice cold water after draining (as shown in the picture).

Slide off any loose skin and drain. Return nuts to bowl.

Mix brown sugar, orange juice, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl. Toss the nuts in until evenly coated.

Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes. Stir and scrape them every 10 minutes. Bake until they are a rich brown color and they smell toasted.

Remove from oven and let cool on the sheet, occasionally scraping them from the sheet with a metal spatula.

When the nuts are cool and dry, transfer them to an airtight container and store for up to three weeks.