Aardvark’s Guide: Big Flavor on a College Budget
Gotta Love Cheap & Easy
“Back to school” is synonymous with lightening your wallet. Tuition, books, fees, plus tricking out that lit off-campus apartment can put an egregious dent in your eating-out fund. Plus, hey, life is busy!
But dining on the cheap-and-easy can also be delicious. With sauce, that is.
Go Convenience Store Crazy
Dress up Your Dog, Dawg!
Suckin’ on a chill dog outside the Tastee Freeze? Well then, you better slap some sauce on that.
We love a giant squirt of Smoky Chipotle on anything chili that rhymes with silly and is a food made of beans and chili powder. It adds a BBQ-tanginess that brings serious style points to that chili dog. Oh yeah, life goes on.
Burritos, Taquitos, Chimichangas (or whatever they got in there)
Snobs we aren’t. Case in point: you might catch us occasionally perusing that mystery pile of vaguely Mexican food lurking below the heat lamp at the counter of your local C-store. And do you know what goes great with all that delicious grease?? Our blazin’ Reaper Smoked Hot Sauce! Extra heat along with the complexity of the smoked peppers in this sauce makes these basic over-the-counter goodies dance on your tastebuds.
Chicken and Jo Jos, Yo!
Yes, please! This meal is so filling and pleasing that it fires on multiple drooly cylinders. And convenience store fried chicken can be some of the best you’ll find. We call our classic Hab Hot Sauce for this one. It heats up, complements, and then scoots out of the way of this beautiful, budget-friendly food find.
Fix Your Blandwich
Convenience stores usually have relatively fresh sandwiches tucked away in a fridge case. Ham and cheese, chicken salad, etc. Like us, you may have noticed that these tend to be a little on the dry side. Be sure to lube ‘em up good with a packet of mayo—and may we suggest a dash or two of our delicious Serrabanero Green Hot Sauce? Its herby goodness elevates that humble lettuce leaf (or leaves, if you’re lucky) and whatever else they smack between those triangular slices of bread. Turn boring into sweet, sweet scorching!
Fast Food Frenzy: Elevate Your Drive-Thur Haul
Taco–Dirty-to-Me
Okay, tacos are pretty much flawless to begin with, and they’re almost always reasonably priced. Plus, many taco stands accompany their food with delicious, homemade hot sauce or at least some tasty salsas.
Still, there’s always room for experimentation. So, take a hint from us…splash some Drunken Jerk Jamaican Marinade all over your next taco plate. A culture clash in your mouth? Perhaps. But there’s just something about mixing those Caribbean spices with the beans, onions, tomatoes, and other taco toppings. Trust us, you’ll never look at tacos the same way again.
No Boring Burgers And Fries Allowed
Of course, this is a fast food go-to for most of us. You can usually get a basic burger on the cheap. Plus, just about every place has the “full-meal-deal” option that will score you a soda and fries, too, for a bargain price.
You may not think of burgers and hot sauce as bedfellows. But what about spiking your mayo with our classic Habanero Sauce or our Serrabanero Green Hot Sauce? Or hitting up your ketchup with some Reaper Smoked Hot Sauce? Mix it up, and you have an on-demand burger sauce that’s also be great for fry-dipping.
Bargain, Bangin’ Grocery Hacks
Oodles of Cup O’ Noodles
Top Ramen, Maruchan, or whichever brick of noodles floats in your bowl, no one can resist the piping hot satisfaction of cheap and easy-to-prepare ramen. But, man, those flavor packets get old.
Well, feel free to toss them right in the trash (or save them for later) and go gourmet instead with a healthy dose of our Drunken Garlic Black Bean Sauce. We make it with all-natural ingredients, and it’s just got a primo, goes-with-all-things-Asian-style flavor profile that you must experience. For extra credit, a squirt or two of our fermented Red Scorpion Fiery Hot Sauce will bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye.
Mac and Cheese That’s Nothing to Sneeze At
Mmmm, cheeeese. It’s so hard to go wrong here, whether you dump it in powder form from a box or grate it up fresh over a steaming bowl of pasta. Flavor freaks, a little imagination is all you need to add variety to this classic easy meal. Leftover bacon? Crumble it. Veggies nearing the end of their useful life? Dice ‘em up and stir them in—onions, broccoli, carrots, etc. A dash or two of Smoky Chipotle-Hab Hot Sauce will send it all Southwestern (add tomatoes, corn, and black beans!). Got some cooked chicken leftovers? Slice them right up and top with Drunken Jerk Marinade for a little Caribbean heat and complexity. You got this!
Give that Frozen Pizza Some (Not Freezer) Burn
When it comes to pizza, it’s not so much which sauce is best to dump all over it. It’s more about deciding which one you’re in the mood for. Because let’s face it: frozen pizza is always satisfying to begin with, even those cheap, lil’ crappy ones with like two pepperonis on ‘em. Gooey cheese, herby tomato sauce, and baked crust always equal “yum.”
So, now it’s up to you to take it over the top. With our Magnificent 7 pack of all 7 Secret Aardvark hot sauces and marinades, you’re set up for whatever flavor direction your tongue is pointing that day. Go for the heat with our Reaper or Red Scorpion, or keep it casual with Habanero. And those are just three of your options!
And speaking of options: If your dorm fridge is approximately the size of a frozen pizza (and therefore will not hold an actual frozen pizza), grab a bottle of pasta sauce, some shredded mozzarella cheese, and a bag of bagels or English muffins and make yourself some easy mini-pizzas. Slice up some lunchmeat ham on top, or smack on a few pepperonis. Pop those little pizza life rafts into a toaster oven. You won’t even need to wait 16-18 minutes for them to be piping hot and tasty.
See, eating cheap and easy really ain’t so bad. Not when you have Secret Aardvark on your side. So, have fun, chow down, save some cash…and always, always keep it saucy!!
Sporks up!