Oy, help me with college dinners

[Formaldehyde]

I think the secret to cooking for yourself is to make it as easy and fast to do as possible.

If you get a microwave you can quickly make a lot of stuff like omelets, pasta, and evenbacon.

I also prefer a toaster oven to a regular sized oven in most cases. It heats up much faster and it can make toast as well. You can freeze hamburger buns, zap them in the microwave for 30 secs to defrost, then toast them a bit. They are almost as good as they are when fresh. You can buy a toaster oven on sale for less than $30.

A bread machine also makes a nice addition, especially if you want to make you own pizzas, which I have been doing a lot lately. A ceramic pizza stone helps a lot to get them to come out brown in a regular oven. When I make a loaf of bread, I cut it up into slices and store the slices in the freezer like I do the hamburger buns so that none of it goes to waste.

I am also a big fan of french fries to go with my burgers. I used to buy the frozen ones and cook them in the toaster oven for 30 minutes. But lately I have been making my own with this Progresso potato cutter and this deep fryer. Using the thin blades, the fries come out like McDonalds and only take 8-9 min to cook (although it does take 15 min for the oil to heat up...). It also makes great chicken wings and onion rings.

A microwave also makes cooking rice a breeze. I've been eating so much of it I now buy it 20 lbs. at a time, which also makes it really cheap. I also use it to cook corn on the cob like Birdjaguar suggested, but I use a damp paper towel instead of a cloth one.

 

[Zelig]

I don't think any of that stuff is universal - I cook a lot, am pretty time efficient with my cooking, don't own a microwave, and use my oven or toaster oven probably once every couple of weeks - almost everything I do is in a pot, in a pan, or in a wok.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I agree with Cut, you should look into some more basic kitchen items. Nothing fancy - but even a single casserole dish (or similar oven-proof container) will help enormously.

There are a lot of boxed meals these days that are very cheap. They even have some that already have the meat included. They are not terrific (and are better cooked in the oven than in a pan on the stove) but they are cheap and you get a bit of variety. Then there is Hamburger Helper style meals, which require you add your own meat. They are pretty simple and you can add whatever ingredients you like (which you can do with the 'meat included' boxed meals).

Also, the biggest advantage is they are so damn simple and quick to make. No real prepping of ingredients, you usually just stir the stuff together and let it cook.


I'd also suggest getting some spices and sauces to play with - they can make your typical, boring meal radically different. For example, I serve lima beans with A1 steak sauce. It seems odd but it's delicious.


There's also lots of good microwavable dinners out there, though I'm not sure how cost-effective they are.

 

[Shaihulud]

Pan cooked chicken fillet is lways nice, lightly coat pan with oil, season fillet according to liking and cook on both side. Pour in vinegar or liquid to deglaze pan to make a sauce. After you have practice with chicken, I recommend trying to make steak. I had a steak dinner almost every day in University.

 

[Cutlass]

For steak, you could get the cheapest cuts, a good knife, slice it up small and fry it in teriaki sauce.