Probably more than anything, I'm asked what travelers should take as snacks on their trips.  It's a good question because there are so many fat- and sugar-laden options at airports (and in supermarkets for that matter...).  Here are my go-to favorites:

Almonds. I always have a bag of almonds with me in case disaster (i.e. hunger) strikes.  Fat, fiber and flavor.

"What Would You Do If You Were Hungry?"

Nicole Gulotta wants folks to think about that and think about the millions of Americans who live on what we used to call food stamps a.k.a. Electronic Bank Transfers (EBT) from the govermment. Their food dollars work out to $3-$4 a day. I cook cheap, but not that cheap.

So Nicole started Food Bloggers Against Hunger, as a way to encourage people to take action.

I have been very, very busy these days with several projects (a culinary dictionary is one!), so deserved a grown-up meal made by my own loving hands. But it also had to be something not very involved that I could sling together fast, because  just don't have enough time for everything I'd like to do!

Whether you are doing the Lenten fish on Friday thing or just happen to have some extra cooked shrimp from a buffet table or recipe, or just defrosted some shrimp that you didn't get a chance to use and want to do something fun with (and that you have absolutely no intentions of sharing with your spoiled little son for whom you do too much anyway and whose leftovers you are sick of picking at instead of making something proper for yourself)....this is a very simple recipe that looks and tastes like a million bucks.

The Super Bowl is only a game.

Super Bowl food, however, is serious business.

Guacamole is the bottom line of that business.

Guacamole (an appropriate linguistic blend of  the Spanish word for avocado: "aguacate" and "mole" or "milled/mashed") is an integral part of the strategy of any self-respecting Super Bowl party, with avocado forming the base. I borrow this from Steve Inskeep on NPR's Morning Edition to give you an idea:

I invented this recipe for my beloved Single Mothers by Choice support group; we meet up once a month at someone's home and our kids go mental playing, while we bring snacks -- often home-made -- drink tea and coffee, and discuss -- among other momentous questions -- whether a date for Valentine's Day is possible, do-able or desirable (Some women have married out, so the answer might just be yes).

You would think that I came from hunger.

I stockpile like a squirrel in autumn. (And like squirrels, I sometimes forget where the hell I stockpiled my treasures, but that is another matter for a day when we are discussing organization. Today, we are not). I don't feel safe unless there are plenty of foodstuffs laid by, whether for unexpected guests, an emergency supper,  the coming of The Apocalypse, or the nuclear winter.

This Cioppino recipe includes an element of redemption.

Adriana -- my dear friend from way back when in Puerto Rico, and now another single mom by choice and an essential part of my New York life,  has made numerous appearances on Hot, Cheap & Easy. But even more of our fantastic meals together have never made it to these pages. We like to blame it on the kids.

Happy Thanksgiving all! Regular readers will recognize this post from LAST Thanksgiving!!! See you soon; I am off to make broth...

My favorite quick dress-up for food that takes me from workaday-dull to bright and shiny: dried cranberries and walnuts.

My take-to-work breakfast? Plain nonfat yogurt, swirled up with some honey, a handful of cranberries and another handful of walnuts (bought in big bags at Costco - they last and last).