Cooking for the recent graduate

[Karalysia]

Soon to lose the comfort of the meal plan and dining hall, thrust out into the cruel world forced to contend with groceries and cooking. How does one manage? What are the necessities to start with? What is fast, nutritious, and affordable?

Ramen of course is a staple, krafs mac and cheese, oatmeal, eggs, deli meats, orange juice and cereal, bread, peanut butter, jelly.

Anything else which requires the absolute minimum of effort?

 

[Ajidica]

Find chicken. Salt chicken. Pepper chicken. Season to taste. Get vegetable oil. Put oil in skillet. Fry chicken. Combine with pasta and A1 sauce.
Profit.

Either that or spend every night eating from the KFC bottomless chicken bucket of despair.

 

[Kraznaya]

Learn to stirfry things. :3

 

[Zelig]

Ramen is gross and sucky.

As is mac and cheese.

Steel-cut oats and muesli with milk/yogurt are both good.

I just go to the grocery store, see what's a really good deal for the week, and base some meals off of that.

 

[cardgame]

chicken is good

chicken is ... not necessarily cheap

 

[Zelig]

chicken is good

chicken is ... not necessarily cheap

Good chicken is a hassle to cook compared to other meats.

 

[Karalysia]

Stir frying stuff requires buying utensils like frying pans and spoons and such. I'm not too keen on buying large pieces of cutlery and kitchen utensils at this point.

 

[Defiant47]

Sausage.

Obtain sausage. Place sausage on frying pan lathered with cooking oil. Insert frying pan into oven, and leave to cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Done.

 

[Arwon]

This chart should help:

http://ilovecharts.tumblr.com/post/5169116883

Spoiler'd for size:

Spoiler :

Stir frying stuff requires buying utensils like frying pans and spoons and such. I'm not too keen on buying large pieces of cutlery and kitchen utensils at this point.

If you intend to feed yourself, you're going to need a frying pan, a saucepan, a casserole dish, a spatula or slotted spoon, a cutting board and some knives at the very least. I get the poverty chic thing, but certain things are just necessary, and they're good investments anyway.

 

[Gangor]

Chilli con Carne

1 can chilli beans/red kidney beans in chilli sauce
1/2 can chopped tomatoes
100g mince
2 pieces of dark chocolate
extra chilli powder, if desired

Fry mince, add all other ingredients and cook for 15 minutes or so (while you cook the rice).

I just made this last night and it was pretty good, even if I do say so myself. You could also add half an onion, finely chopped, to be fried with the mince, if desired. I didn't bother though.

Edit: If you can't get chilli beans, you can use salsa instead, with some (washed and drained) red kidney beans. I used to buy litre bottles of it, which is useful for all sorts of Mexican flavoured cooking.

 

[Narz]

If you like eggs they are easy to cook. Buy free range.

Ramen is crap, get real pasta (I buy brown rice pasta at Trader Joe's since I can't eat wheat).

Always throw a green vegetable of your choice (broccoli, collards, kale, chard, etc.) in with every meal (except breakfast), it's easy & good for your health.

 

[CaptainF]

One of my favorite foods is Hoppin' John. The traditional recipe is black eyed peas, rice, onions and bacon, but I substitute bacon with pork chorizo or some other meat.

Simple to make and deeeeelicious.

 

[Boundless]

I live on mini cheddars at the moment. A hearty meal. That or cereal.

No in all seriousness: pasta and cheese, spaghetti bolognase, pizza, sausages, stir fry and pies are your best bet imo.

 

[Mise]

Pasta, rice and bread for staple. Chicken breast fillets for meat is worth the extra money -- they fill you up better than fattier meats, so you end up spending less on snacks between meals. Vegetables = whatever's cheap and in season. Carrots are always good, sprouts are pretty cheap here, turnips, green beans... Just boil them and eat them with the chicken. You can microwave most vegetables, but you can't microwave chicken. Put the chicken in the oven and leave it for however long the back of the packet tells you to leave it in for.

Snacks = bananas, and 1 other fruit of your choice (again, whatever's on offer at the shop).

 

[schlaufuchs]

Learn to stirfry things. :3

This.

And you've gone through 4 years of college and are still content to live off of dining hall fare? I commend your perseverance.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Turn down the heat

 

[NovaKart]

If you're really going through hard times bread and olive oil or cheese works. Usually I cook pasta because it's really cheap but you need something to boil water in at least.

What happened to you anyway? You never post in OT anymore.

 

[Scratch]

Buy veggies. Learn to fry veggies in olive oil or use a steamer. It's okay to boil them, but steaming is better as you won't lose nutrients.

Eat some meat too. Chicken is usually the least expensive.

If you have no religious restrictions on pork, bacon is always a winner. I consider it an essential food group.

Avoid eating too much of pre-packaged and processed meals.

 

[Cutlass]

If your freezer is big enough, buy family size packages of meet and ziplock bags and divide the meet into 1 serving packages. Freeze the rest. That lowers the cost. Shake and Bake chicken and pork gives a tasty meet that's no real effort to cook. If you buy your veggies in 1 pound bags of frozen stuff, and have some glass dishes and a microwave, then you can just nuke a portion sized to what you want. Very easy, and you won't have to go to the store as often as if you bought fresh veggies.

 

[Godwynn]

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