Quackers
The Frog
Eating is so mainstream.
Cooking for the recent graduate
- Thread starter Karalysia
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Boundless
Deity
I'm English and I'd say I was a good cook! You haven't tried my home-made banana bread...
Shekwan
Kim Chi Quaffing Celt
Meal swipe? Whats that?
Anyways perhaps theres a cultural difference here, Americans eat out more, and I'm not saying thats a bad thing. Eating out is more affordable over there. I get it.
But still the premise of this thread is still "how do I buy groceries and cook for myself", which strikes me as odd for someone who is 21+ years old. I appreciate that its always good to get tips, and this thread is fantastic for that so yeah ignore my ranting.
Undergrad universities in the US have dining halls for their students, you buy a meal plan for each semester with a certain number of meals which you swipe with your id card to use:
As far as I know most people who live on campus use it.
Neonanocyborgasm
Deity
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2004
- Messages
- 4,695
Get a girlfriend who is a good cook. Problem solved.
Its unbelievable to see this kind of arguments in the 21st century. Nothing personal.
Its unbelievable to see this obliviousness to sarcasm in the 21st century. Nothing personal.
Alright aside from the sarcasm alert which was unnecesary. Do i get the impression a recent graduate is not good at cook?. It is not that hard to DIY on the kitchen, as long you dont adlib recipes unless you know what you're doing, and if in the end turns edible.
But its a really bad idea to do crazy experiments with the food while you have guests in the house.
Virote_Considon
The Great Dictator
It's not? Dear God, I hope chicken is gold-plated over your side of the pond or something. Here it's cheap as all hell!
Is it being fatty really going to be all that bad? People need some amount of fat in their lives, and if the rest of the advice in this thread is followed (especially to avoid processed food) then the fat he'll be getting is really a small amount.
As for my own advice, buy pasta. If worst comes to financial worst, you can always live off a specialty of mine, Pasta a lá Nothing
Mise
isle of lucy
You need certain fats that your body can't produce itself, but you'll get those fats from pretty much anything you eat anyway.
thomas.berubeg
Wandering the World
The one cooking implement I'd recommend getting is a wok: it can be used both as a frying pan and as a pot (So can be used to make anything from stirfry to bacon to soup.)
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
Pasta, lots of pasta. Although I have increasingly discovered how awesome rice is with almost everything. Salad is an easy and healthy dish, and for some reason wrapping it up in a tortilla makes it that much better. Dried beans from the bulk bins are cheap, easy to cook, delicious and healthy (afaik). I haven't tried making stew or soup yet but its on my list of things to do.
If you're too lazy to cook a chicken yourself (like I am) most grocery stores have a BBQ chicken they cook in their rotisserie that isn't too badly priced and tastes pretty good. Here they cost like $7.49 or $7.99 each, which is fine with me as I don't eat a lot of meat (although I would if I didn't have to cook it all the time
).
Deli meats aren't cheap and/or healthy.
EDIT: Making your own porridge is also a LOT better than the instant oatmeal sold in stores. Although I have yet to figure it out how to make it not sickly sweet or too bland.
If you're too lazy to cook a chicken yourself (like I am) most grocery stores have a BBQ chicken they cook in their rotisserie that isn't too badly priced and tastes pretty good. Here they cost like $7.49 or $7.99 each, which is fine with me as I don't eat a lot of meat (although I would if I didn't have to cook it all the time
).Deli meats aren't cheap and/or healthy.
EDIT: Making your own porridge is also a LOT better than the instant oatmeal sold in stores. Although I have yet to figure it out how to make it not sickly sweet or too bland.
North King
blech
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2004
- Messages
- 18,165
Baking chicken is ludicrously easy. You dump some sort of marinade over chicken, sometimes you let it sit overnight (sometimes not), then you stick it in an oven and watch it cook. Or, you know, play videogames.
Oh, obviously, you'd want to stick this in a baking dish before sticking it in an oven. Glass. Get one, they're good for other tasty things, too.
Spoiler Chicken Oregano :
Oh, obviously, you'd want to stick this in a baking dish before sticking it in an oven. Glass. Get one, they're good for other tasty things, too.
Neonanocyborgasm
Deity
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- Apr 21, 2004
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- 4,695
Its unbelievable to see this kind of arguments in the 21st century. Nothing personal.
Its unbelievable to see this obliviousness to sarcasm in the 21st century. Nothing personal.
I was being entirely serious. If you are a bad cook by the time you're out of college, chances are there is little than you can do to help it. I was in that situation and while I have learned some rudimentary skills since, I do not trust myself to cook, and will avoid it unless absolutely necessary. So having a girlfriend or wife who is a good cook is a boon. My wife is an excellent cook, but I had no idea about that when I met her. I only realized this after dating her for several weeks. That is the problem, you see, with my plan. There is no way you can identify which girl will have the cooking skills necessary.
Hmmn, lessee. Bachelor meals.
Some of my standbys
- empty a can of beans (i.e., brown beans in sauce) into a bowl. Crack two eggs on top. Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes, covered.
- wash a sweet potato, and poke holes in it. Microwave it for 6 or 7 minutes. Slice it up, and mush in some salsa or guacamole with your fork
- toast a hamburger bun. Slice a red pepper and nuke it until it's kinda slimy. Spread goat cheese on the bun and broil the red pepper into the cheese. Insta super-tasty sandwich. (Can also use portabello mushrooms)
- boil 300-500 calories of pearl barley (you can do this yesterday) and drain, add a can of soup of whatever flavour you want
(actually, adding healthy stuff to soup is a really cheap and easy way to get decently tasty food. The soup's not very good for you, but you can compensate with the additions)
Some of my standbys
- empty a can of beans (i.e., brown beans in sauce) into a bowl. Crack two eggs on top. Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes, covered.
- wash a sweet potato, and poke holes in it. Microwave it for 6 or 7 minutes. Slice it up, and mush in some salsa or guacamole with your fork
- toast a hamburger bun. Slice a red pepper and nuke it until it's kinda slimy. Spread goat cheese on the bun and broil the red pepper into the cheese. Insta super-tasty sandwich. (Can also use portabello mushrooms)
- boil 300-500 calories of pearl barley (you can do this yesterday) and drain, add a can of soup of whatever flavour you want
(actually, adding healthy stuff to soup is a really cheap and easy way to get decently tasty food. The soup's not very good for you, but you can compensate with the additions)
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
As a feminist, I want a sammich.
It really isn't all that difficult to learn how to cook. I know because I finally did so after years of fast food and pizza deliveries. I don't make anything that fancy and I grill a lot, but it is a vast improvement over what I used to eat. And it's a hell of a lot cheaper.
This is a fantastic gadget I have mentioned before:
Progressive International Microwavable Omelet Maker
Anybody can make a great omelet with one of these. Wisk 3 eggs in a bowl. Throw it into the microwave for 1:30 or so. Add some cheese and other goodies. Close it and cook for another 30 seconds. Voila.
I also make my own bread. Automagic bread makers are fantastic inventions.
Sunbeam 5891 2-Pound Programmable Breadmaker
