Andi

One of the biggest challenges I find many students face when they move off campus, is cooking. As I said in a previous blog, I find that a shocking number of people who go to college do not know how to cook full meals for themselves. I don’t mean anything fancy, like a 3 course meal or something, but even just grilling a chicken breast can seem like a daunting task to some people.

If you’re anything like me, I grew up learning to cook with my mom and grandma, so when I moved off campus, cooking wasn’t even a concern, (maybe finding the money to buy groceries was) but the physical cooking aspect never intimidated me.

I wanted to write this blog to share some of the really simple and easy meals and foods that I use all the time.

PASTA
Always a solid staple. It’s cheap and has infinite uses. I typically make spaghetti, buttered noodles, pesto pasta, and sometimes I add in some chicken for some protein!

CHICKEN
Speaking of chicken, it’s another staple of mine. It’s a little cheaper than beef, but still awesome for protein! I usually use it in a simple teriyaki stir fry, or grill it with some onions and lemon pepper!

POTATOES
Potatoes pretty much go with anything. I like to make some friend potatoes with onions and bacon, or roast them in the oven with some garlic and rosemary!

GARLIC
I literally use garlic in almost anything. Pasta, chicken, beef…I use it all the time. I love garlic and it adds a nice taste to nearly everything. You can get a jar of minced garlic pretty cheap at Walmart too!

SANDWICH BREAD
Sandwich bread, well, it’s great for sandwiches! I like to make grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and I also like to use it to make garlic bread in the oven.

ONIONS
This is another one of those “goes with everything” items. I typically stick to green, yellow, and red onions. Green I use in stir fry or with buttered noodles. Yellow I use with gilled chicken and with beef (it’s the most universal onion in my opinion). Red I love to use on sandwiches or when I spoil myself and make guacamole!

BEEF
I personally don’t eat a ton of beef because it’s slightly more expensive, and I just typically prefer chicken. But it’s still great to have. Ground beef has all kinds of uses. I like to use it more tacos, enchiladas, and stroganoff.

I guess that’s all I really have for now. To find easy recipes you can always call home or simply look it up on the internet! There were just some simple items that I find really helpful to have around in my kitchen! I hope anyone who plans to move off campus finds this list helpful!

Go Hawks!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 10th, 2013 at 2:16 pm and is filed under General, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.