Cooking In At College
 

Does anyone have any good recipes that are easy, and cheap? I am getting really tired of eating in the cafeteria and there is an oven/stove in my dorm for student's use. I need things that don't cost too much money to make. I am having a lot of trouble planning a menu because I want to use recipies that use similar ingredients (it's kind of a pain to store an open 5lb bag of flour) so that I can use up ingredients quickly. If you have any cheap/delicious recipies please let me know!! :D

Onion, garlic, tomato paste, dried herbs and dried pasta are great staples to keep in your dorm. You can make all kinds of dishes with those as a base (from easy mac n cheese, pasta in red sauce, pasta bake to enchiladas.)

Any interest in using a crock pot? I sure get a lot of mileage out of mine. LMK and I will share some easy recipes for you.

I also swear by a pressure cooker BUT I know many people aren't confident/comfortable using one.

Tulip86 thanks those are great ideas :)
AzTheta, I would love to have a crock pot. Right now I don't own one, but can ask for one from my mom haha she has three.
I've never used a pressure cooker.

You might need to check with your school about crock pots. They weren't allowed in dorms at the college where I was advisor (stupid rule!).

good point, honeychile. I was hoping that, since there was a kitchen facility (kateee said there was an oven/stove for use), there'd be a place to plug in a crockpot. kateee - better check.

Look at www.kraftrecipes.com and other brand name websites. In my experience, they are tasty, relatively few ingredients and regularly use entire packages in the recipe. And when I've used them (I've used TONS of Campbell's soup recipes), I've found them to be really good. They test kitchen those recipes to death.

As an example, on the Kraft website I clicked on their Taco Soup recipe. It uses nice round numbers so you don't have half a can of whatever left over. One drawback is it serves 12 1 cup servings (probably a 2 cup serving is a more realistic meal), but you can make some friends and share or get some Gladware and freeze them if you have access to a freezer. Don't forget to label the container with what it is and when it was made.

Crockpot.com also has recipes. When you're shopping for one, think SMALL. They are misleading and I can picture you ending up with a huge one because the box doesn't seem that big.

Good luck!

I am not sure if we are allowed crock pots. I am going to have to ask. I know we got yelled at for deep frying earlier this year but we did set the kitchen on fire and have to call 911 so that was deserved haha. We aren't allowed microwaves in our room unless they are the kind that are directly attatched to the fridge and shut the fridge off when you start the microwave (energy savers). But it says nothing about a crock pot. DubaiSis that site is awesome! Thank you!!

I would add tortillas, cheese, salt & pepper (especially for reheating leftovers), and chicken.

Chicken is super cheap, so it's okay if you mess up a few times. :P

I also like keeping ingredients around for salads, which is especially useful between shopping trips.

Are you on Pinterest? It's a great resource for recipes!

You can do a lot out of a college kitchen. When I was a sophomore I catered an anniversary party for my friend's parents and forty guests out of a kitchen with a half sized oven and about three feet of counterspace!

:eek: Um... kateee... um... are you sure you want to cook? :D

yeah to pinterest - way to go, Gusteau. You could probably do a White House dinner for 200 with just a can opener, knowing you. Just sayin'...

AzTheta, we learned our lesson quickly about how easy it is to catch stuff on fire when deep frying :D haha

Gusteau, you must be really good at cooking. As evidenced above, mine are kind of sub-par right now haha

I recommend Half Assed Kitchen for quick and easy recipes. I am also in love with Jacques Pepin's 'Fast Food My Way'.

Thank you! I will look into both of those :)

I would recommend The Absolute Beginner's Cookbook by Jackie Eddy. My mom gave me a copy when I left for college (even though I was far from an absolute beginner, even back then), and there are some tasty (and easy!) recipes in there.

My dorm was set up in suites, each of which had several bedrooms, a bathroom, a lounge, and a full kitchen. The cafeterias were horrible. (Aramark SUCKS!) We had a declining-balance meal plan (so instead of signing up for, say, 21 meals a week, you put a dollar amount on your card, and whatever you didn't use, you got back at the end of the year). So I kept a couple hundred dollars on my card so I could grab a bagel and coffee in the morning ... and I cooked. A LOT.

Pasta is an easy one. Just buy some dried pasta and follow the directions on the package. Either buy a jar of sauce, or make your own if you're feeling adventurous (tomato sauce and spices are no less difficult to heat up, and arguably less expensive than a jar of prepared spaghetti sauce).

Stir-fry is easy, too, and very flexible. Get a chicken breast or some beef or pork or whatever (unless you're vegetarian, obviously) and cut the meat into strips. Get whatever veggies you like (onions, bell peppers, broccoli, etc.) and slice them up. Heat up some oil in a saucepan, throw in the meat and veggies and some spices if you like, stir-fry it up, and you're done. Make up some instant rice if you're pressed for time, or cook up some white or brown rice.

A man, a can, and a plan cookbook
 

So while this cookbook is geared toward guys, I don't think you could go wrong if you had it. It has simple recipes that usually have just a few ingredients. I have it to my boyfriend several years ago, and he said the food was good and simple to make.

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Can-Plan-G.../dp/1579546072

aephi_alum, all of our meal plans are priced the same, you have to pick your 'tier' and I have 11 swipes into the cafeteria a week and $300 to our 'bistro' which is a cafe that serves starbucks haha. AVI isn't usually bad but they served general tsos last night and teryaki chicken tonight. It gets old. Those ideas sound great.

DDDlady i think i will buy that. it's only $4.99 for my kindle :) thanks

Anything with a can of Campbells soup! I'm pretty sure there is a Campbells cook book that is like "One can of Campbell's ______, one _______, and two _______." And they're usually really good!

Ditto the crock pot. Even if it's just throwing some chicken breasts in with some butter and italian dressing seasoning.

I'm not as great as my friend and fellow badge nut would lead you to believe :) I'm also dating someone who is a strict microwave chef, so I sympathize with your plight!

I love aephialum's suggestion of stir fry, so easy and tasty! Pasta is always a great option; here's a recipe for a super easy marinara sauce:

1 can crushed tomatoes
1 small can of unseasoned tomato sauce
1 clove of garlic
Crushed red pepper flakes
Fresh basil
Olive oil

Coat the bottom of the pan in olive oil and add a few sprinkles (depending on how spicy you like things) of red pepper flakes and a crushed or minced garlic clove (a garlic press is a great tool). Allow garlic to cook until it is fragrant and add both cans of tomatoes, salt (maybe a 1/2 teaspoon? I don't measure) a pinch of sugar, and chopped basil. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

When I make this I add about a 1/4 cup of red wine to the pan before I add the tomatoes and let it cook off. If you're of age and allowed to have alcohol in the dorms it's a great addition to add some depth of flavor to the quick sauce.

Also, check out ebay or tag sales for cookbooks. I have several cookbooks that were published by a church/philanthropic/other club group that promise only THREE ingredients (except salt, pepper or sugar) for each dish. You really don't want to be bothered buying lots of spices and such, if you're in this to save money. A plus on these books is that NO WOMAN is going to submit a recipe with her name on it that isn't good!

One example I can think of off the top of my head is Cheater's Beef Stroganoff: beef cubes, mushroom soup, noodles (mushrooms optional).

Also, it's easy to make cookies from a cake mix:

Cake Mix Cookies:

1 box any flavor standard size cake mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil (can substitute applesauce)
Chocolate chips, nuts, crushed candies, flavoring (optional - experiment!)

-Add 1/2 cup oil and two eggs to one box of cake mix, mixing well. Add chips, nuts, and flavorings if desired.
-Drop by teaspoonfuls on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

(Excellent example: chocolate cake mix with crushed Whoppers!)

An online site I use is Just A Pinch Kitchens. They're a bit more advanced, though, but you may get some ideas of what works and what doesn't. Pillsbury, Kraft, and almost any food manufacture has a website, too.

Have fun and keep us posted!

I love this recipe! It's very easy and it is a one pan meal! I usually put aluminum foil on the baking sheet, which makes for easy clean up!

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/10/r...usage-and.html

(it's also a healthy recipe...I'm doing weight watchers and it's only 8 points per serving)

Agreed to both. The beauty of stir fry and pasta is that they're basic and easy, but can provide a lot of variety, both as to what goes into them protein- and vegetable-wise, and what goes on or with them sauce-wise. If you can have at your disposal four or five easy pasta sauces that you like, then you'bve just given yourself a whole lot more option. Aside from marinara, one of my favorites is a balsamic brown butter sauce -- very easy and quick. Then there's pesto. Carbonara's quick and easy too, especially if you go with a baconless version of it. (I'd hate to do that, but sometimes you do what you have to.) You get the idea.

Likewise for stir fry, there are endless sauce possibilities. A few tricks: Make sure your meat/protein and vegetables have been blotted and are as dry as possible before cooking them; otherwise, you get steamed food instead of stir fried. Use an oil that can take high temperature without getting smokey -- peanut oil is a good choice unless there are allergy issues. Extra virgin olive oil and sesame oil are typically not good choices.

Always cook your protein first (unless it's something like shrimp that cooks really fast), then remove it from the wok, clean the wok quickly, then do your vegestables, starting with the ones that take longest to cook, like carrots. As the vegetables are finishing up, add the protein back in and then whatever sauce you want. If you can keep ginger and garlic on hand, add a little of each to the oil before putting the protein in, and then again before putting the vegetables in.

Some grocery stores sell meat/chicken already cut up for stir fry, so you might check out a couple near you for that. Ditto the tortillas(flour type). A couple of flour tortillas, a can of Ranch Beans, some salsa and some grated cheese makes a quick(and cheap) lunch or dinner. You could serve with canned corn, or fresh carrots and ranch dressing. Whole foods has the best whole wheat flour tortillas I have found, but other stores also carry whole wheat tortillas. You need to keep them in the fridge.

Eggs are an inexpensive protein source. If you can try to get free range, organic it is kinder to the chickens and actually tastes better. Try an omelet with two eggs, salt and pepper, with some grated asiago cheese and some avocado slices in the middle. Serve with a salad or some fresh fruit. Yum!

This reminded me of a stovetop frittata I made while ago. It's a one pan meal and easy for a beginner cook. Serve it with a side salad and you'll be sure to impress your friends - feel free to use pre-sliced mushrooms and packaged shredded cheese if you need a time saver. I would recommend shredding the cheese yourself, but it's not worth buying a grater.

http://www.simplyscratch.com/2012/03...-frittata.html

Here's a super-easy recipe for White Chicken Chili. You just mix it all up in a saucepan until the cheese is melted and it's warmed through. Not gourmet, but definitely easy for a dorm kitchen, and it's really quite good:

1 cup sour cream (I use light)
1 cup shredded pepper-jack cheese (bagged is fine)
3 cans of great northern beans
1 cup of salsa (I just use one jar of Newman's)
3 cups of diced, cooked chicken (try Tyson's diced, roasted chicken breast...it's in a bag in the freezer section)

This is the basic recipe, but I like to add 2 cups of frozen corn. You can serve it with tortilla chips or scoops, and add chopped green onions, etc. for garnish if you wanted to jazz it up. I think a fruit salad would go well with it, too.