Meal Ideas

[TigerHunter]

So, next semester the cafeteria is moving to the other side of campus. Since I don't want to trek all the way over there every time I want a meal, I switched to a new meal plan that provides me with plenty of Flexcash (good anywhere on campus) but no meal points (good only at the cafeteria). This meal plan also has the advantage of being several hundred dollars cheaper, and my parents have agreed to make up the difference to me directly. Upshot: I'll be eating in my dorm a lot more often next semester.

While a good portion of that will likely be TV dinners and other microwavables, I'd like to actually prepare something myself from time to time. I don't actually know how to make anything that's not extremely basic, so I turn to you for help. I have a fridge, microwave, and can purchase a griddle, but no oven. What tasty meals can I whip up with those resources? What ingredients should I pick up when I get back to campus?

Oh, and what's a good brand of deli chicken? I've developed a taste for the sandwiches one of the places on campus makes, but my attempts to recreate them here at home have met with failure.

Thanks in advance!

[Serpentine]

If you can borrow a stovetop or invest in one of those plug-in ones, I recommend looking into bulk pasta recipes. I've got my brilliant spaghetti bolognese elsewere on these forums, which is very easy to double or triple in quantity and freezes excellently. Same with a lot of soups.
Basically, if you can't get a plug-in stove thingy, but you can borrow one, say, once a month or less, you can spend a day cooking and (if you're organised) have half a dozen different meals that will last you the full month or longer as long as you have decent freezer space.
Other than that, I suggest you look for a microwaving cookbook. I have one that tells you how to make a microwave roast and everything. Never used it before, but they exist, and presumably they're okay.
Toasted sandwiches you can get creative with, too. Tomato, cheese, bacon, deli meat, probably eggplant and similar vegetables... Start experimenting.
edit: An electric frying pan will probably be a must, too. And/or a George Foreman grill - one of the best Christmas presents my stepfather ever got me.

[Lady Moreta]

Or a crockpot/slow cooker. You can stick everything in before you leave for class and when you get home it's all done for you :smallsmile: (and they are safe to be left unattended as well). You can do casseroles, soups, roasts, heck one of the cookbooks I have for it has dessert recipes in it! It acts like a little oven in many ways. If you got one you'd need at least one recipe book to go with it, they're great, but they can be tricky if you start experimenting with them.

[TigerHunter]

Some of my friends have dorms with ovens, I expect they wouldn't mind me borrowing their stove for a bit every so often.

[golentan]

Seconding pasta. Everything from the old Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce standby to an easy stroganoff over egg noodles to gnocchi in cream sauce or chicken marsala, you can make with nothing more than what you've described.

If you get a deeper pan, I'd recommend getting a steamer dish as well. They can be dirt cheap, and they're my favorite cooking implements: barbecue buns, steamed vegetables, tamales, spicy steamed shrimp, the possibilities are endless.

On a griddle, a nice hash or corncook's easy: dump corn flour or potatoes with a bunch of veggies, a dab of oil, and throw in some cheese or meat if so inclined. Cook till it smells good.

Microwave makes for good squash: cut it in half, turn it upside down on a plate, it steams itself. Then you can (depending on the type), turn it into anything from a dessert pudding to a hearty meal.

Griddles are good with pancakes. And I don't mean bisquick here, I mean honest pancakes. Sweet or savory, you load them up till they threaten to break the table and they're a good meal whenever. Top it off with eggs for the protein.

Learn yourself some marinades. 5 minutes prep the day before, and you've changed your outlook on your food of choice. A man can live from here till judgement day on packaged food if he has enough rosemary.

[factotum]

You can make loads of stuff just using a microwave--as suggested above, find a dedicated microwave cookbook to get some ideas. Your main issue is likely to be washing up the cookware rather than finding ideas for things to make!

[Lady Moreta]

A man can live from here till judgement day on packaged food if he has enough rosemary.

I don't know why, I just love this. I find it truly awesome :smallbiggrin:

[Cinnamonbunnies]

Can you use the griddle for boiling? could always buy an electric hotplate. Assuming you eat meat:

Minced meat can be made into anything in any time. Meatballs (http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/tag-2085/meatballs-recipes.aspx) might take too long, but pasta sauces are sold ready made for cheap, and mix well with fried mince—pasta boils in ten minutes. Both the meatballs and sauces keep rather well. Hamburger patties (http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipes/searchresults.aspx?tag=homemade+burgers) if you tire of the prior, and taco-kits make for surprisingly cheap and decent food (unless you have a taste for actual mexican food).

Cup noodles are much more expensive than buying them by the pack and boiling in a pot. Asian stores would have a great variety, and with their low prices, if you don't like one variety, throw them out (well. thats really bad. but you know.). Add some tomato, leek, cabbage, or some such, for a full meal. Tofu, if you like it, is great, and easy to boil/fry into the noodles.

Miso soup (http://japanesefood.about.com/od/misosoup/a/aboutmisosoup.htm) is terribly healthy and terribly easy to make, if you happen to like it. Can be reduced to only water and miso paste.

Steaks might not be cheap, but are substantial, and it's not like you need meat every day (or at all .. ). Simple sauces are easy to make from adding cream, pepper and salt to sauce pan after frying meat.

If you like rice, buy a rice cooker. Rice is good to have, and can be had with basically anything. Boil sticky rice, or long grain with a pinch of saffron, make a risotto, even rice-porridge. Though not all in the rice cooker I guess.

Salads require basically no preparation. Add anything—lettuce, tomato, squash, aubergine, carrot, cucumber, nuts, cream, croutons, cheese, olives, olive oil and/or vinegar, spices, herbs ... A great meal on its own. A greek salad is great in summer.

Make your own hot chocolate. That a sauce pan is made for frying stuff doesn't mean boiling a little milk in it will hurt.

Sandwiches are the best. Tomato lettuce and anything you can think of. Pastrami is decently cheap, as is salami, compared to buying chips or soda, for example.

Greek lentil soup, fakes, if you can get access to a big pot to boil it in, is wonderful to freeze/refrigerate, and is both cheap easy and quick to make.

Pancakes can be had with savory food, too, if you don't add too much sugar to the batter, though it takes some time to whip up. Also, of course, go with sweet condiments.

If you can access an oven some time, koobideh kebabs (http://www.iranchamber.com/recipes/meat/kabab_koobideh.php) are great and simple. Don't need to skewer or refrigerate them. Also, last long!


Course, it'd probably get messy in your room, and might seem expensive .. but a poor student myself, I manage to eat what I want, when I want. Guess it takes me some time to cook stuff, but it doesn't have to.

Also, the above list seems to assume you know nothing about cooking, yet that you want to put some effort into it.. note, too, that I haven't tried any of the linked recipes; they could be terrible. But I hope its a little helpful.

Just remember to try crazy things. It almost always works out, if you have a good feeling about it. Blue cheese goes with anything.

[Tricycle_Knight]

If you're short on space, money, and appliances, then I'd say most of what needs to be said has been mentioned in above posts; I specifically like the sandwich and salad idea. They can be a fresh and delicious way to experiment (especially if you learn to make your own dressings and spreads).

One thing I would recommend, not necessarily from a recipe standpoint but more from a budget one, is to plan out your meals for the week in advance. Figuring out what you're eating for the week and sticking to that is a good way to save a few bucks (you won't be scrambling at the last minute to pick up something that you're in the mood for or whatnot). Also, I like cooking all of my dinners for the week on Sunday; again, not really a recipe, but it does save me a lot of time during the week. Bulk meals like soup (or jambalaya, one of my personal favorites) or pasta in a slow cooker can last you a week (or more) and is a delicious alternative to buying canned stuff.

[Mauve Shirt]

For meat consumption, if you'll have a freezer I'd suggest going to a Costco or some other store where you can buy food in bulk and getting a bag of boneless chicken breasts. Freeze them and you can use them in recipes for at least half a semester before they get freezerburned.

[truemane]

To make your basic, full balanced meal you need three things: meat, starch, veg.

Vegetables you can get in a can (or fresh) and all you have to do is boil them until they're as soft (or not) as you like. Super easy. Asparagus, broccoli, cucumber, carrots, beans, whatever. You can buy them at the grocery store, wash, skin, tip, and boil. Couldn't be easier if you tried. It won't be gourmet, but it'll be functional. And healthy. Add some salad dressing to the result for some extra zing. Alternately, make a salad. Also easy, and fun to experiment.

Starch. Few options. You've got corn. Frozen or fresh. On the cob or not. And you boil it, as above. Instant noms. Or you can use instant rice with some salt or soya sauce. If I'm short on time, sometimes I'll use plain instant rice as a bed and put the meat on top. It looks good, tastes fine, and there's less muss and fuss. I don't know if they have 'Sidekicks' where you live, but they're like 99 cents and they come in noodles and rice and they have the instructions on the back and they're EASY to make and tasty enough.

Meat. Lots of options, clearly, but for any of them I strenuously second the Foreman Grill. Small, easy to use, FAST. It's a godsend. I use mine just about every day. The only thing you really can't do well with it is bone-in chicken. And it's not great with sausage. Everything else goes from raw to fantastic in seven minutes. Pork, steak, boneless chicken, hamburgers, whatever. Buy some pepper, salt, oregano, garlic (fresh or minced) and anything will taste good. You can grill your asparagus on it. Or your hotdogs. Or your peppers. It kicks ass.

Mix and match to taste. Get carrots and rice and pork chops one day. Chicken breast and noodles and broccoli the next. The preparation is almost the same for everything, so once you've mastered one of them, you're half-way to mastering them all. And remember, once you're actually cooking there's not much extra time or effort involved in making more, so make extra and stick it in a fridge for later.

And once you've got the basics down, start adding little extras. Like sautéed mushrooms and onions for your pork chops. Easy enough to do once you're got the hang of it. And once you've got sautéing down pat, it's a quick jump from mushrooms to stir fry. Throw on some nice vermicelli and suddenly you're got a real, honest-to-goodness meal.

But that's completely optional. If you put down a plate with a nice vegetable, a reasonable starch, and a meat that's not dried out and over-cooked, you've got a meal.

Trust me on this. I was a complete non-cooker until I wound up with a wife and an eight-year old to look out for. Now I adeptly produce meals in 20 minutes and, while not haute cuisine, are perfectly acceptable. As I say often enough, I'm not a good cook, but I'm an EXPERT heater.

Also, chicks dig dudes who can cook. Seriously.

[Mauve Shirt]

I wish I was allowed a Foreman grill in my university apartment. It looks so useful.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Pasta (and Ramen) you can make it in a Microwave. Though, it can be tricky to do without it getting overcooked until you've done it a few times.

[golentan]

I don't know why, I just love this. I find it truly awesome :smallbiggrin:

Shepherd Book FTW.

[truemane]

I wish I was allowed a Foreman grill in my university apartment. It looks so useful.

Seriously, the best $100 I have ever spent in all my life. Hands down. I have very hectic evenings and the time between getting kid from school, meal prep, meal eat, homework (his, not mine), play time and bedtime is so compressed that it's all I can do to get through it without being rushed and stressed. Or frying everything (yuck), which used to be the only way I could save time.

But with a Foreman I can put up a full, good, balanced and healthy meal in 20 minutes. Start to finish. MAYBE up to 30 minutes if I'm doing something slightly involved. Every minute saved on cooking is one more minute of play time with the kid.

And, since he'll be choosing my nursing home one day, every spare minute with him is an investment in my future.

[Lady Tialait]

My brother has a mini-fridge in his dorm room. He has me make him four or five Quiche (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiche) for him, he stack them and eats them whenever he is hungry, he doesn't even have to heat them if he is too tired.

And it's VERY simple to make a quick one. Just put some bacon, mushrooms, spinach into a pre-baked pie crust. Dump 3 or 4 eggs over that and bake it for about 30 min. Then cool it and place it in the fridge. I make four to eight of them at a time. The cost is very low, I made his last 4 for about 15 dollars. At eight slices each, and each slice being a full meal with veg and everything...that makes it 47 cents a meal...or something like that. All prices are in USD...cause...I live in the US.

[TigerHunter]

Also, chicks dig dudes who can cook. Seriously.
Okay, so I have a bit of an ulterior motive. :smallwink:


Seriously, the best $100 I have ever spent in all my life.
Do you recommend shelling out that much? A quick Google search turns up ones for as low as $14.

[Serpentine]

Are they any good, though?
I have one with a... lidded grill? thing? on one side and a flat surface on the other. I'll look it up, but basically it's great, and thrice as good as getting just one or the other. If the $14 ones are just the griddle thing, I wouldn't bother.
edit: Okay, this (http://purchasenet.com.au/shopping/george-forman-combo-grill-and-griddle-p-1161.html) is what I've got, and it's worth every cent.

[THAC0]

You can cook excellent fish in the microwave (or even a dishwasher, if anyone is interested).

[CynicalAvocado]

You can cook excellent fish in the microwave (or even a dishwasher, if anyone is interested).

*crosses hands*
tell me more

[TigerHunter]

edit: Okay, this (http://purchasenet.com.au/shopping/george-forman-combo-grill-and-griddle-p-1161.html) is what I've got, and it's worth every cent.
I showed that to my friend, and he recommended this (http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-GR-4N-5-in-1-Griddler/dp/B002YD99Y4/?ref=pd_ts_k_?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&tag=gmgamzn-20) instead. Thoughts?

[THAC0]

*crosses hands*
tell me more

Season fish according to taste.

Wrap loosely in saran wrap.

Wrap in tinfoil several times - watertight is the goal.

Put in top rack of dishwasher.

Run (minus detergent).

Stop when it gets to the dry cycle.

Enjoy.

[CynicalAvocado]

Season fish according to taste.

Wrap loosely in saran wrap.

Wrap in tinfoil several times - watertight is the goal.

Put in top rack of dishwasher.

Run (minus detergent).

Stop when it gets to the dry cycle.

Enjoy.

that makes sense. i'm going to try this.

i've cooked a steak with my car before

[Serpentine]

I showed that to my friend, and he recommended this (http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-GR-4N-5-in-1-Griddler/dp/B002YD99Y4/?ref=pd_ts_k_?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&tag=gmgamzn-20) instead. Thoughts?Nup. It's like mine, except with half the versatility.

[TigerHunter]

Nup. It's like mine, except with half the versatility.
Forgive me, but how so? It seems to have all the same features.

[Serpentine]

Aha! I didn't see that you can open it up.
This makes it about on par, then. On the one hand, this one's smaller than mine and you can still do the open fry and closed... griddle?, but on the other hand mine can do both at once. So six to one, half dozen to the other, and this one's cheaper. I'd say it mostly comes down to how much space you'll have.

[thubby]

you can do chicken scampi with surprising ease provided you can get the noodles done in the microwave.

[Lioness]

Or a crockpot/slow cooker. You can stick everything in before you leave for class and when you get home it's all done for you :smallsmile: (and they are safe to be left unattended as well). You can do casseroles, soups, roasts, heck one of the cookbooks I have for it has dessert recipes in it! It acts like a little oven in many ways. If you got one you'd need at least one recipe book to go with it, they're great, but they can be tricky if you start experimenting with them.

Seconding this...soups, casseroles, pretty much anything.

We put ours on in the morning before work/school, etc., then turn it off when we get home. Heat food up just before dinner. Eat. Yum.

A lot of stuff that can be cooked in a slow cooker also goes really well with rice.

[Eadin]

I showed that to my friend, and he recommended this (http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-GR-4N-5-in-1-Griddler/dp/B002YD99Y4/?ref=pd_ts_k_?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&tag=gmgamzn-20) instead. Thoughts?

I have one. I use it a lot for cooking meat and veggies, even for making toast.
great for making paninis. Make sure you have a microwave! I would starve without mine.