OT: HELP!! Cheap college eating

[Joyce]

Ok, I need some help. Our son has rented off campus for his senior year and grocery money is limited. He is not the greatest cook, but will try simple things. Any money saving ideas out there for cooking for one??

[pmmahan]

Gosh, I remember those days well.

Pasta, pasta, pasta! I ate a lot of it in college. Beans, eggs, and peanut butter are cheap sources of protein. Frozen stir fry veggies are easy and quick. Cold cereal. Annie's Mac and Cheese (all natural) and canned soup (somewhat expensive, but nutritious and quick)
tortillas, cheese, canned chiles.

Hope this helps!

[m4star]

Don't forget vegetarian refried beans (no lard please), salsa, and cheese on a whole wheat tortilla heated in the microwave for 30 seconds. Oatmeal. Apples with peanut butter. Carrot and celery sticks in his favorite salad dressing. Yogurt.

I would just urge your son to stay away from instant non-nutritional foods like Ramen Noodles. It seemed like everyone ate them by the case in college, but all they really provide is starch and salt. He'd be better off with some of those Nile Valley Cup 'o Soups.

[KValley]

Joyce,

What about investing in a crock pot? A complete meal (with the addition of a salad) can be made pretty cheaply, with leftovers to spare.

And how about coming up with a few hearty soup recipes? There are packages of dried bean soup mixes that are sold for less than $2.00 for a bag- you just add your own fresh vegetables and meat, and spices. They are filling, much less expensive that a good canned soup, and make a great volume. And smell so good as they simmer!

Omelettes and frittatas are also easy and can be filled with whatever's in the fridge, can be eaten cold (fritattas, anyway)- even in pocket bread as a sandwich!

[Angela]

The one thing that stands out in my mind when I lived with 2 others girls in a townhouse senior year is--English Muffin Pizzas. Tomato sauce, cheese and anything else on hand would go on top of the muffin and then broil it for a few moments. Very quick and tasty.

Just thought of another one--Macaroni and Cheese with hot dogs cut up in it. High sodium, but again, quick and tasty.

[funnybone]

Here's a link for him if he has a microwave:

www.microwavecookingforone.com

[KathrynY]

Not sure if you live close enough to do this, but how about making meals together when he's home that he can take back to school by cooler and put in his freezer? Homemade lasagne packaged in smaller disposable aluminum pans, soups, chilis, pasta sauces etc. If you do this together once or twice, maybe he will be more comfortable cooking on his own.

Lots of good ideas on this thread already. Thinking back to my college days, my roommate and I made lots of open-faced sandwiches for dinner: slice of toast, deli meat of choice, lettuce, tomato, top with cheese, run under broiler for a minute. Omelettes were also a favorite - top with "spanish omelette sauce": sauteed onion, garlic, green bell pepper, sliced carrots, can of tomatoes, spices of choice, simmer for a while and pour over scrambled eggs or omelette. Then stock up on plenty of applesauce and frozen microwaveable veggies for side dishes.

Try the recipe for Home Alone Beans on this thread: http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=11868&highlight=end+week

[LGBurns]

When my husband first moved out on his own, he made the following things a lot:

Frozen vegetables heated in jarred spaghetti sauce served over pasta with grated parmesan on top.
Vegetarian Chili -- canned beans, canned tomatoes, green peppers and chili mix over rice. Or he can add ground turkey. And/or good beer (no Coors) added before green peppers and reduced to half.
Burritos - black beans cooked with garlic and cumin, rice, lettuce, tomato wrapped in a flour tortilla


I also second the crock pot idea. In Kenneth Branagh's autobiography, he said when he was at RADA he used to use a slow cooker all the time--get home from class in the evening and dinner is ready!

[JHolcomb]

Oh God, I was so poor in college. I lived off of beans and rice for a month. Really. Anyway, here's an easy recipe:

One bag boil-in-bag rice, cooked
One can black beans
One can diced Mexican style tomatoes
Chili-O to taste

Mix together, heat, and eat. Kinda high in sodium in if you use a lot of the Chili-O, but really easy to make and very filling. If he wanted to get healthy he could use brown rice and make his own spice mix without a lot of sodium ( I would use cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic salt), but if he's a college boy, don't count on it.

I really lived off of this for a month. I was a vegetarian in college and couldn't afford the expensive meat substitutes, and this was before I was a cook, so canned beans were the best. Get him a case!! The great thing about it is that you can eat it plain or put it in a tortilla with a little cheese and lettuce and whatever and make a burrito out of it.

Before I was a veg, one thing I would make when short on cash was "poor man's spaghetti" which involves browning hamburger meat (lean, of course) and throwing it in a pot with a can of tomato soup with some macaroni and cooking until the mac was done. Good in a gross way.

I hope you can make this a Ramen-free year!

[DmOrtega]

We like to open a can of chili, put a tablespoon of it on a flour tortilla, add cheese and heat in the microwave. I doubt that it is low fat however it is fast, easy to make and filling. Sometimes we cook an egg, in a bowl, in the microwave and add that. We put everything into a tortilla, even leftovers can take on a new life when put into a tortilla.

[Nancy171]

I'm probably not the best person to answer this as I lived on food from street vendors, Wawa (the Philadelphia 7-11), and vending machines. However, I've heard that some guys like those Foreman grill things because it makes cooking meat pretty simple.

[kwormann]

Well, until I got ahold of him, my DH (then DB) lived on Mountain Dew and Velteeta Shells and Cheese :p

[Susan]

Okay, I must admit to living off of instant mashed potatoes sans butter and milk during my college days. When I had the money I added the milk and butter but beggars can't be choosers! My other ideas have already been posted but must add that burritos are wonderful! I just fed my kiddos the exact recipe that m4star listed on this thread (and added a shredded carrot and chopped scallion).

Does your son like oatmeal? Great morning and night! Another goodie that can be fixed in a crockpot too (the steel cut ones of course!).

[HedyL]

Off campus i have fond memories of Ramen noodles, English muffin pizzas (w/ broccoli), mac n' cheese, and lots of pasta. I ate lots of pasta in college. I'd even make the ramen noodles, throw away the spice packet, and toss w/ butter and parmesean cheese since they cook so quickly. Stir fry is good option too. Oh yeah, also frozen breaded chicken patties, which I'd put on a roll w/ cheese. Spaghetti-O's too.

My younger brother was notorious for eating an entire box of instant mashed potatoes for dinner while in college.

i just remembered....i also lived on Michelina's frozen entrees for a while. They were $1 each (and even less while on sale!). My DH lived on soup and PB when i first met him.

[Alisa]

If he's adept at making a stir-fry with whatever's in the fridge, he'll be okay. A few different sauces/flavourings for variety, some cornstarch to thicken, and a giant bag of rice and he'll be fine.

[sal]

Yep, I remember those days so well...spaghetti and ketchup was my standby, you could get 4 boxes of spag for $1 and a bottle of ketchup for <$1. Anyway, how about spaghetti squash w/marinara or mac n cheese w/some add-ins (hot dogs and frozen peas were my favs). Good luck to you! sally

[Lynne1975]

Oh, to be in college again...

Anyway, my suggestion is the Lipton noodles-n-sauce or rice-n-sauce, which you can jazz up with cut up cooked chicken or ground beef. They are relatively healthy, although probably high in salt. Tuna fish was a staple for me, too. Eggs are inexpensive and, in my opinion, are good for any meal (I still eat eggs for dinner at least once a week). As for Ramen noodles, my grocery store near campus carried low-fat Ramen noodles, which were actually better than the regular ones. High in salt, but very little fat. Hope this helps.

[JHolcomb]

I second the idea of getting him a Foreman grill. DH loves it and it's very easy to use.