Hey guys so I'm going into my second year at Arizona State University and I will be living in my own apartment so I am going to have to start learning how to cook for myself. This last year was spent in a dorm with nasty bland dining hall food. Anyone have any delicious, yet simple recipes that don't break the bank? I exercise regularly so I like my meals to be protein packed.
Simple recipes for college?
- Thread starter BMF2009
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A very easy post workout snack that I loved in college was a peanut butter and honey sandwich on whole wheat bread washed down with a class of chocolate milk. Get a bag of frozen chicken breasts and you can cook those and pair them with whole wheat pasta and a veggie for a nice and cheap meal. Cans of tuna go a long way in the protein department. Tuna sandwiches, tuna salad, tuna noodle casserole etc...
Do you have access to a full kitchen? Do you want quick meals (10-15 mins to make) or you are happy to spend more time on them (30 mins)? Do you have a preference on a cuisine or type of food that you like?
Fried rice, stir fry, stews etc are all great ways of using up any leftover bits of meat, veggies etc that you have knocking around and you'll only need the one pan
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Shrimp boat style fried rice. Cook rice the day before. This is how you use up leftover rice.
Quarter longways 3 or 4 jalapenos. Food service gloves are a good idea for this step. Remove the core and seeds and the stem end. Rinse. Chop up an onion coarsely, and a couple sticks of celery. Chop up 1/4 lb bacon very finely and gently fry on low heat, stirring often, in a well seasoned cast iron skillet of sufficient size. While that is going on, chop up your leftover meat or seafood. Doesn't matter what it was, how it was cooked, as long as it once belonged to something that had a face on it. Mix up your secret sauce... a tablespoon of French's yellow ballpark style mustard, a tablespoon of Lea & Perrins worcestershire, a few drops of liquid smoke, a half teaspoon of kitchen bouquet, a half teaspoon vinegar, and a couple teaspoons of water. Keep checking your bacon. Don't let it stick or burn. It should get crispy but only a light golden brown. Pour off all but a tablespoon or so of the bacon fat and save it, for it is precious, and turn up the heat under the skillet. Add the vegetables and saute until the onions brown slightly at the edges. Add your meat and cook just a few minutes since it is already cooked and you just want to meld the flavors. You can of course use uncooked meat and just cook longer at this stage. Fluff up the rice with your fingers or a fork and turn the heat up to high, and add the rice. Cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula to scoop the crispy stuff off the bottom. Pour on the secret sauce, distributing it well. It will immediately release a tremendous cloud of aroma that will have your hand itching for a fork instead of the spatula. Keep turning occasionally so you get the rice just barely crispy in places. Crack 2 or 3 eggs if you like, and pour into the whole mess and cook until the eggs are barely done. Optionally season to taste with Tony's or with Lawry's. Great for a weekend breakfast when you aren't in a hurry. The smell will have the neighbors salivating. Best thing in the world with your first beer of the morning, unless you like to drink that while you cook, in which case it is the best thing in the world with your second beer of the morning.
childoracos
Take a big flour tortilla. Heat or not heat, up to you. Not the kind that look like cardboard... a good brand, like Mission, for instance. The ones that look like somebody's abuelita made them by hand. Smear a thick glob of Wolf brand canned chili without beans down the middle. poke an air hole in a bag of Doritos to let the air escape, and crush the doritos in the bag. Pour a bunch out onto the canned chili. Fold or roll the whole works. Optionally, add a tablespoon of Pace or Herdez salsa. Pico de gallo? Sure, that will work. Keep the ingredients out and handy because you will want another and another and another. Great with generic student-quality canned beer, very very cold, with a wedge of lime squeezed in there.
Last Chance Soup
Put everything you got laying around into a crockpot on medium. Go to work or class or whatever. Come home and eat it over rice, with a beer on the side.
Shrimp and Sausage soup
Quarter, core and seed, and finely chop 4 jalapenos, and lightly saute in bacon fat with onions and celery. Add a pound of peeled shrimp and a cut up andouille or polish or kielbasa sausage, brown slightly and add water or canned clear broth. Season to taste with Lawry's, cayenne, Lea & Perrins, etc. Accompany this dish with cold beer.
Eggs n Oysters
chop and brown 1/4 lb bacon. Pour off about half the fat and save it. Saute jalapenos, onions, and celery in the same skillet. Drain a pint of shucked oysters and add them when the onions have a lot of brown on the edges. The oysters will first give off liquid, then slowly it will begin to cook off. While this is going on, beat a half dozen large eggs. When only about 1/3 cup liquid remains, add the eggs. Stir occasionally. Season with Lawry's to taste. Turn off the heat. Add about a third of a pound of velveeta cheese, more if desired, and let it melt on top, under cover. Excellent on nice fluffy flour tortillas. Serve with beer.
Pizza.
Get the Papa John's app on your iphone. Great with beer.
Quarter longways 3 or 4 jalapenos. Food service gloves are a good idea for this step. Remove the core and seeds and the stem end. Rinse. Chop up an onion coarsely, and a couple sticks of celery. Chop up 1/4 lb bacon very finely and gently fry on low heat, stirring often, in a well seasoned cast iron skillet of sufficient size. While that is going on, chop up your leftover meat or seafood. Doesn't matter what it was, how it was cooked, as long as it once belonged to something that had a face on it. Mix up your secret sauce... a tablespoon of French's yellow ballpark style mustard, a tablespoon of Lea & Perrins worcestershire, a few drops of liquid smoke, a half teaspoon of kitchen bouquet, a half teaspoon vinegar, and a couple teaspoons of water. Keep checking your bacon. Don't let it stick or burn. It should get crispy but only a light golden brown. Pour off all but a tablespoon or so of the bacon fat and save it, for it is precious, and turn up the heat under the skillet. Add the vegetables and saute until the onions brown slightly at the edges. Add your meat and cook just a few minutes since it is already cooked and you just want to meld the flavors. You can of course use uncooked meat and just cook longer at this stage. Fluff up the rice with your fingers or a fork and turn the heat up to high, and add the rice. Cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally with a spatula to scoop the crispy stuff off the bottom. Pour on the secret sauce, distributing it well. It will immediately release a tremendous cloud of aroma that will have your hand itching for a fork instead of the spatula. Keep turning occasionally so you get the rice just barely crispy in places. Crack 2 or 3 eggs if you like, and pour into the whole mess and cook until the eggs are barely done. Optionally season to taste with Tony's or with Lawry's. Great for a weekend breakfast when you aren't in a hurry. The smell will have the neighbors salivating. Best thing in the world with your first beer of the morning, unless you like to drink that while you cook, in which case it is the best thing in the world with your second beer of the morning.
childoracos
Take a big flour tortilla. Heat or not heat, up to you. Not the kind that look like cardboard... a good brand, like Mission, for instance. The ones that look like somebody's abuelita made them by hand. Smear a thick glob of Wolf brand canned chili without beans down the middle. poke an air hole in a bag of Doritos to let the air escape, and crush the doritos in the bag. Pour a bunch out onto the canned chili. Fold or roll the whole works. Optionally, add a tablespoon of Pace or Herdez salsa. Pico de gallo? Sure, that will work. Keep the ingredients out and handy because you will want another and another and another. Great with generic student-quality canned beer, very very cold, with a wedge of lime squeezed in there.
Last Chance Soup
Put everything you got laying around into a crockpot on medium. Go to work or class or whatever. Come home and eat it over rice, with a beer on the side.
Shrimp and Sausage soup
Quarter, core and seed, and finely chop 4 jalapenos, and lightly saute in bacon fat with onions and celery. Add a pound of peeled shrimp and a cut up andouille or polish or kielbasa sausage, brown slightly and add water or canned clear broth. Season to taste with Lawry's, cayenne, Lea & Perrins, etc. Accompany this dish with cold beer.
Eggs n Oysters
chop and brown 1/4 lb bacon. Pour off about half the fat and save it. Saute jalapenos, onions, and celery in the same skillet. Drain a pint of shucked oysters and add them when the onions have a lot of brown on the edges. The oysters will first give off liquid, then slowly it will begin to cook off. While this is going on, beat a half dozen large eggs. When only about 1/3 cup liquid remains, add the eggs. Stir occasionally. Season with Lawry's to taste. Turn off the heat. Add about a third of a pound of velveeta cheese, more if desired, and let it melt on top, under cover. Excellent on nice fluffy flour tortillas. Serve with beer.
Pizza.
Get the Papa John's app on your iphone. Great with beer.
Ramen noodles. All you need is a cup for water, a microwave, a bowl (optional), and ramen noodles. Optional incredients could include green onions (sliced thin), cilantro (chopped) and a protein of your choice (precooked).
If you want to cook, any of Mark Bittman's books are good. The recipes are very simple and taste good. I like The Best Recipes in the World.
Considering the blistering heat in AZ during the late summer and early fall, a crockpot/slow cooker will be your best friend. All sorts of great recipes on line. Inexpensive cuts of meat pair very well with the slow cooker. Good luck in your studies.
Slash has some great ideas there. Cheap stew meat or cheaper cuts of steak can be used in a crock pot to make some really awesome stuff. Veggies like onion, carrot, celery and mushrooms with a little flour and broth to make a good sauce or gravy, and dump in some boil in bag rice (uncle bens brown rice is good) or cut up a few potatoes and you're set.
Omelette sandwiches are a good quick and easy meal as well. And don't forget easy things like beans or legumes with either rice or cornbread.
Omelette sandwiches are a good quick and easy meal as well. And don't forget easy things like beans or legumes with either rice or cornbread.
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Get a crockpot. You can make any manner of stews and casseroles in a slow cooker. With the crazy schedule of a college student it is handy to throw everything in and "set it and forget it". Dinner will be ready when you come home.
Not knowing your tastes, I can't give you too many recipes. There are lots of online sites and books on quick meals, 30-minute meals, etc. Look over those.
Shy away from using too much prepared meals and products. They are more expensive that raw materials and usually not as healthy.
Keep a supply of ingredients like rice, beans, potatoes, eggs, some frozen vegetables and maybe a few cans of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup for sauces.
A BBQ or George Foreman grill is essential for grilling meats.
Do a search here for a thread on cooking with ramen noodles. Lots of good ideas there. You can also create any number of dishes with mac and cheese by adding some tuna or ground beef, veggies, etc.
Not knowing your tastes, I can't give you too many recipes. There are lots of online sites and books on quick meals, 30-minute meals, etc. Look over those.
Shy away from using too much prepared meals and products. They are more expensive that raw materials and usually not as healthy.
Keep a supply of ingredients like rice, beans, potatoes, eggs, some frozen vegetables and maybe a few cans of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup for sauces.
A BBQ or George Foreman grill is essential for grilling meats.
Do a search here for a thread on cooking with ramen noodles. Lots of good ideas there. You can also create any number of dishes with mac and cheese by adding some tuna or ground beef, veggies, etc.
Ramen with additions got me through grad school. Some onions, mushrooms, garlic, and leftover meats tossed into the soup made a great 6minute meal. Stir fries are great too: quick, plus you can toss almost anything into it and it'll taste good.
For bigger events, a nice homemade pasta sauce always goes over well. Most are really easy to make also. It's still my default for entertaining.
For bigger events, a nice homemade pasta sauce always goes over well. Most are really easy to make also. It's still my default for entertaining.
Fast Spaghetti recepie:
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 pound of the fattest ground beef you can find
1 Small onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon or ground curcuma
1 bay leaf
3 table spoon of olive oil
A pinch of salt, ground thyme and ground parsley/chervil and sugar
1 Pack of whatever noodles were on sale
As much non-vinegary chilli sauce as you like.
Heat the oil rather hot and add minced onion and garlic. Add the beef and cook until it's done then add the spices.
Start boiling water for the noodles and add the tomatoes and chilli sauce. Mix it carefully with all the fat and lower the heat.
Simmer until pasta are done and serve. Takes about 20 minutes in all once you have it down.
Not as good as a proper sauce, but it's much faster.
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 pound of the fattest ground beef you can find
1 Small onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon or ground curcuma
1 bay leaf
3 table spoon of olive oil
A pinch of salt, ground thyme and ground parsley/chervil and sugar
1 Pack of whatever noodles were on sale
As much non-vinegary chilli sauce as you like.
Heat the oil rather hot and add minced onion and garlic. Add the beef and cook until it's done then add the spices.
Start boiling water for the noodles and add the tomatoes and chilli sauce. Mix it carefully with all the fat and lower the heat.
Simmer until pasta are done and serve. Takes about 20 minutes in all once you have it down.
Not as good as a proper sauce, but it's much faster.
How are you doing with all this BMF2009? I'm thinking back to when I was . . . well . . . a bit younger. Most of us have cooked things for our friends or family for many years. I'm thinking you might need a bit more detail?
Best to find a friend or five. Cooking for one is just . . . well, sad.
Best to find a friend or five. Cooking for one is just . . . well, sad.
Burgers, baby! Find a day that you and your friends can get together (keep it small, 4-6 people) and grill out. We did that every Tuesday night and had a blast. We split into two groups and alternated responsibilities. One week you were responsible for food, the next booze. It was required to be grill food with some sides. We ate burgers, brats, chops, steaks, dog, etc. etc, and drank mostly craft beer. It was a great time, there were always leftovers for the next day and you get practice cooking.
Outside of that, I ate a lot of pasta, grilled chicken, fish or pork, rice, and casseroles. Steaming veggies is a good, cheap and healthy way to add to the main course. Buy fresh or frozen, it's all the same if you're steaming it. When deployed, living out of a hotel, I made good use of a rice cooker and a hot plate. I ate a lot of fried rice, pasta and sandwiches. A good rice cooker is pretty cheap and will steam your veggies for you, or make your rice. Think leftovers when you cook. If it can be reheated, cook enough for the next day or 2. Also, if you buy fish or chicken, bring it home and wrap each piece in plastic wrap separately. Freeze them and you have food that will keep, but cook quickly. I bought the bagged chicken breasts too, but I think the ones in the meat section are better and not much more expensive by now.
Outside of that, I ate a lot of pasta, grilled chicken, fish or pork, rice, and casseroles. Steaming veggies is a good, cheap and healthy way to add to the main course. Buy fresh or frozen, it's all the same if you're steaming it. When deployed, living out of a hotel, I made good use of a rice cooker and a hot plate. I ate a lot of fried rice, pasta and sandwiches. A good rice cooker is pretty cheap and will steam your veggies for you, or make your rice. Think leftovers when you cook. If it can be reheated, cook enough for the next day or 2. Also, if you buy fish or chicken, bring it home and wrap each piece in plastic wrap separately. Freeze them and you have food that will keep, but cook quickly. I bought the bagged chicken breasts too, but I think the ones in the meat section are better and not much more expensive by now.
Not very healthy, but very tasty, and quickly made; spaghetti carbonara is one of my favorites.
(this is for a family; 4 persons ... change the amounts for 1 or 2 persons)
500gr spaghetti
250gr bacon (or best, pancetta)
200gr parmesan cheese
4 egg yellows (not the egg whites!)
half a cup of milk
1 small onion (we call them "sjalotjes")
garlic and pepper to taste
Make tiny pieces of the pancetta, and bake together with the finely cut onion and garlic, in olive oil.
Stir the egg yellows, the milk, and half of the parmesan cheese in a bowl, until it is nice and smooth.
Cook the spaghetti al dente, and let the water out. Immediately mix the egg yellow / cheese mixture, and let spoon it through the spaghetti for a minute, on a low heat.
While mixing, add the pancetta (or bacon) and onion, plus the pepper.
Serve while hot, and use the remainder of the parmesan cheese on top of the pasta.
To make it look healthy, serve with a salad
Edit: some people also put creme fraiche in; I think that is a bit too much.
(this is for a family; 4 persons ... change the amounts for 1 or 2 persons)
500gr spaghetti
250gr bacon (or best, pancetta)
200gr parmesan cheese
4 egg yellows (not the egg whites!)
half a cup of milk
1 small onion (we call them "sjalotjes")
garlic and pepper to taste
Make tiny pieces of the pancetta, and bake together with the finely cut onion and garlic, in olive oil.
Stir the egg yellows, the milk, and half of the parmesan cheese in a bowl, until it is nice and smooth.
Cook the spaghetti al dente, and let the water out. Immediately mix the egg yellow / cheese mixture, and let spoon it through the spaghetti for a minute, on a low heat.
While mixing, add the pancetta (or bacon) and onion, plus the pepper.
Serve while hot, and use the remainder of the parmesan cheese on top of the pasta.
To make it look healthy, serve with a salad
Edit: some people also put creme fraiche in; I think that is a bit too much.
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I think I'll figure something out. Going to buy a croc pot and a rice cooker. Seems like Ill have plenty of meals I can create with those at my disposal. I have 3 other roommates but all they eat is fast food so I'm going to be cooking for myself lol.
Cooking for yourself? Trust me, if all they eat is fast food they'll come running to anyone who cooks a real meal.
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