On a Whim

We (Drew Meyerhoeffer and Jordan Mullins) have been cooking a lot lately now that we are in our apartment. Jordan bought a 50 pound bag of pinto beans and I bought a 25 pound bag of rice. We both really like cooking and taking pictures so starting a blog really makes a lot of sense for us. Not to mention the fact that one of us has a macro lens now. This blog is about cooking on a college budget and schedule hopefully without sacrificing flavor.

Our first recipe though doesn't involve beans or rice. Here it goes...

Cinnamon Apple Chai Tea:

We've found that cooking with lots of spice isn't as expensive as you'd think. Most spices you can get for $1 at a SuperSave or similar type grocery store. You don't really need the high end brand because we can hardly tell the difference.

Ingredients:
1 Gallon of Water
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Regular Tea Bags
3 Chai Tea Bags
1 Apple
1 Orange
1 1/2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ginger
1 Teaspoon All Spice
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 Cup Milk (Fattier the better!)
Dash Cayenne Pepper
Spiced Rum (Optional, not to mention expensive for a college kid)

Steps:
Begin heating water and sugar in a large pot. Chop up the apple and toss into the water to cook for five minutes before continueing. Then add all the spices (cinnamon, ginger, all spice, nutmeg). Once that has dissolved completely, add the tea bags. While the tea is brewing, grate in the zest of the orange into the pot. Once the tea has brewed to your liking, add the milk and serve!

You might be thinking, this doesn't sound that cheap. Like I said, all the spices aren't too expensive if you buy an off brand. Also, fruit doesn't cost any money at all for college kids who take a backpack to their all you can eat dining hall if you know what I mean.

The next entry will probably a food item instead of a drink. Can't live off a drink after all!