College food

Well guys, I'm transferring for my Junior and Senior year in college so no more living in the parents house. Here I cook for myself, but have not so cheap ingredients and a badass grill (I grill EVERYTHING).

Sooo with all these expert cooks on the forum , I figured I'd ask yall for some cheap and easy to cook recipes. Won't have access to a grill, however. Of course the pasta, hamburger and all that but I want some things not run of the mill.

Any input would be greatly appreciated! TY

ramen, mac and cheese, hotdogs, micro burritos, hamburger helper, zatarans, pasta, and beer.

If its not "run of the mill" chances are, its not going to be cheap.

If you want to get creative, buy a food processor and/or a blender. You can do wonders with it, making dishes like a butternut squash bisque, basil puree for mashed potatoes, ritz cracker stuffing for seafood dishes, infused oils, and so forth.

As far as some good dishes, the first thing I think of is pasta. Your execution is just as important as your ingredients. There are ENDLESS possibilities of pasta with countless amounts of veggie's and proteins you can add to a lame ass dish of linguini. Fresh herbs, fresh veggies, and nothing too over the top is great for pasta, look up some recipes, make a few dishes, and take it from there.

Question... you have a stove to work with, right? lol.... just want to make sure. Also, how many will you usually be cooking for... 5?

Going away to school and worried about food huh? Mr Cuervo and Mr Beam are disappointed.

Just stay away from boxes and cans; prepared food kills a budget.

Like others have said, pasta (also rice) can be mixed with something new every day and you'll be nourished and not bored.

I remember back in my day I remember we used to eat bread and drink vodka, kids these days are pu55ies. Cant say **** without someone slitting their wrists. ****, ive been over weigh for most of my life, and i heard about it from all my peer, to my face i might add. What ever happened saying something back? Out-witting someone. No, actually, thats probably not a good idea, i should probably hang myself with my grandma's panties at the local walmart cause i got called tubby or something. Like i said, kids these are pu55ies. Whats worse are these parents that shelter their kids from the world. I mean ****, u cant even play dodge ball in schools anymore because its a form of bullying. And this new "everyones a winner" bullshit. If u come in first you win, if you come in second ur just the first loser. Not everyone is a winner, thats life. But no, lets sugar coat **** for our children so when they get to the real world they have no idea wtf to do. Then we'll see all these kids that made it through school kill themselves over not getting that promotion at work. We're settig out kids up for failure.

will you have access to a full kitchen?

at first kushy was all like...

Originally Posted by kushy

I remember back in my day I remember we used to eat bread and drink vodka, kids these days are pu55ies. Cant say **** without someone slitting their wrists. ****, ive been over weigh for most of my life, and i heard about it from all my peer, to my face i might add. What ever happened saying something back? Out-witting someone. No, actually, thats probably not a good idea, i should probably hang myself with my grandma's panties at the local walmart cause i got called tubby or something. Like i said, kids these are pu55ies. Whats worse are these parents that shelter their kids from the world. I mean ****, u cant even play dodge ball in schools anymore because its a form of bullying. And this new "everyones a winner" bullshit. If u come in first you win, if you come in second ur just the first loser. Not everyone is a winner, thats life. But no, lets sugar coat **** for our children so when they get to the real world they have no idea wtf to do. Then we'll see all these kids that made it through school kill themselves over not getting that promotion at work. We're settig out kids up for failure.

but then he was like...

Originally Posted by kushy

will you have access to a full kitchen?

and now i'm all like

calm down kushy

Originally Posted by kushy

I remember back in my day I remember we used to eat bread and drink vodka, kids these days are pu55ies. Cant say **** without someone slitting their wrists. ****, ive been over weigh for most of my life, and i heard about it from all my peer, to my face i might add. What ever happened saying something back? Out-witting someone. No, actually, thats probably not a good idea, i should probably hang myself with my grandma's panties at the local walmart cause i got called tubby or something. Like i said, kids these are pu55ies. Whats worse are these parents that shelter their kids from the world. I mean ****, u cant even play dodge ball in schools anymore because its a form of bullying. And this new "everyones a winner" bullshit. If u come in first you win, if you come in second ur just the first loser. Not everyone is a winner, thats life. But no, lets sugar coat **** for our children so when they get to the real world they have no idea wtf to do. Then we'll see all these kids that made it through school kill themselves over not getting that promotion at work. We're settig out kids up for failure.

just find a gf who's a great cook.

Yes, I'll have a full kitchen to work with. I'm not one to do boxed/frozen/premade goods so I generally stay away from that. JJR, you seem like the go to guy around here for recipes so do you mind pming me some of your own that fall along the cheaper side? Also, yes I am a big drinker, however I do enjoy the finer things and don't usually buy skoal or evan williams ****. I like to enjoy a good beer and tend to purchase a different kind each time. I have the beer covered =D so no worries there.

As far as food goes, I was a spoiled at home and dad would just hand me the credit card to go get groceries. So ballin on a budget will be new for me. Haven't had the most useful mother ever, so my dad taught me how to cook for myself so I won't NEED a girlfriend to cook for me lol! And it would be nice to awe whatever girl I decide to bring home that night. Cheers, thanks for all the responses!

Yea dude hit me up any time. I am perceived as the "go to" guy on here just because I looooove talking about food, however there are some amazing cooks in here as well... if you are looking for help, you start up a thread instead. The food forum needs some life brought to it, we've all be slacking lately

Accolade get your ass in here and give some of your recipes, you know what time it is in the kitchech

Alrighty JJR, I'll start making a list of some classic dishes you can give me your spin on and make a thread for them.

if you're on a budget and don't have much time to spend on cooking, i suggested making the habit of roasting chickens. roast chickens are very versatile, inexpensive, and easy to make. roast chicken can be eaten as roast chicken itself, or it can be cut up and used in making stir fry, pasta, soup, salad, sandwiches, tacos, enchiladas, etc. i roast a chicken at least once a week, and i keep the meat in the fridge and use bits and pieces of it throughout the week to make quick and simple meals out of it. also, if you're partial to either dark or white meat, you can roast breasts or thighs/leg quarters instead of whole chickens.

also, after roasting the chicken, i like to debone it and keep the bones as well as the bits and pieces i do not plan on eating in a ziplock bag in the freezer. once i've accumulated enough of it, i would use them to make chicken stock that i would use for soup and/or noodle dishes. making your own stock not only save you some money, but it also taste better than any of the ones you can buy at the store.

hmm...
-College food for me was only hitting the cafeteria for steak night, chatting up the right ladies that didn't eat meat to get their tickets.
-KFC, I ate so much hotwings that the manager gave me an employee discount card, kekeke. I could finish a 20wing box in 5min...no lie.
-Del Taco/Taco Bell...drunk bicycle rides through the drive-thru was frowned upon.
-beer, and lots of it.

I had a rice-cooker in the dorm and I would borrow my friends hotplate and make spam and rice...

^^ Roast chicken is a great idea, thank you.

Also fisch that soundsssssssssssssss not to be my cup of tea lol

Slow cooker could be your friend too... around here you can get your hands on chicken leg quarters for $.79-$.99/lb. Season them up and toss them into the crock pot for the day. If you don't want to bother making your own BBQ sauce I'd recommend a bottle of Sweet Baby Rays, if available. It's cheap, it will reheat better the day after and it will last a while. You can throw bristket in there too if you can get a good deal on it. Pulled chicken sandwiches with a little cole slaw during the summer, not too much beats that.

As for grilling, now is the time that all of the stores have meat on sale. London broils, skirt steaks, any cut of chicken, chopped meat... You can make all sorts of dishes too. Tacos, fajitas,burgers all sorts of hot dogs with different toppings, fish, shellfish, sandwiches, wraps, sliders, skewers, the options are endless.

As much as an advocate I am for making my own marinades, this time of the year I'll usually grab something quick. I would highly recommend these if you can get your hands on them:
http://www.soyvay.com/
The Hoisin Garlic and the Veri Veri Teriyaki are killers. You can marinate just about anything in them and it will come out very good. I know this is a little more expensive but I've made chilean sea bass with the Veri Veri Teriyaki and topped it with some toasted seasame seeds and it was killer.

Also during the summer I really don't like using the oven or the stove so the good thing about meats like top round london broils is that if they are cooked right they will l come out very good. If you can get a good price on them buy a lot and cook it. They make for great cold steak sandwiches for days after and with a little horseradish mayo, lettuce and tomato you're set. Any sort of beef I will never reheat. It never comes out right.

Chicken is the same way. I usually buy packages of the whole untrimmed breast, trim the fat and slice it horizontally into three or four very thin cutlets. Then all you need to do is cook it all and throw whatever you don't eat into the fridge. Pull a piece out and throw it on a roll with whatever you want and you're set. If I know that I am going to be reheating the chicken I will usually cook the chicken right at the point of just being under cooked. This way when you go to reheat it, you're not eating a dried out reheated piece of rubber.

Same for vegetables. Grill zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, portabello mushrooms, the list goes on and on. They can be marinated, too, before grilling and thrown into the fridge. Reheating those is a breeze.

Sauces, throw some garlic onto the grill and let it roast up. Extract the roasted garlic and mix with mayo. You can do the same thing with red peppers but you are going to need to toss that into the blender or a food processor to get a nice smooth sauce. Another topic that I could ramble on for pages about.

Read the other thread too about what people have in their kitchens and get some ideas about what sort of spices people have. Starting with a spice rack that comes prefilled isn't a bad idea.

I could probably go on for a few more pages with ideas. Pick an area that you want to start with and we can start throwing out some suggestions.