Cooking In At College

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Gusteau

I love aephialum's suggestion of stir fry, so easy and tasty! Pasta is always a great option.

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.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

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

[kateee]

Thank you! I will look into both of those

[aephi alum]

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.

[DDDlady]

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

[kateee]

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

[IrishLake]

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.

[FSUZeta]

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!

[Gusteau]

Originally Posted by FSUZeta

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

[Sciencewoman]

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.