68 replies to this topic

[March]

I am finally in a dorm with a kitchen this year, and so far I have made little use of it, sticking to my ramen, spaghettios, and microwavable pizza habits of years prior. Even when I go shopping with the intention of getting food I always end up getting the same instant stuff.

 

So I'm wondering, would anyone be willing to impart upon me the knowledge of some good cookable stuff to stock my fridge with so I don't just keep going to wendys every night? I never know what to get at grocery stores cuz I just never know what to cook! 

[Harlow]

Personally I'm a sandwich freak.

 

Bread (toasted), mayo, onion, tomato, avocado, turkey. B)

 

Not really cooking, but it's delicious. xD

 

 

You could get stuff for tacos or quesadillas. Depending on what you like on yours, they're usually fairly fast to make. I usually cook my meat with seasoning before, then have leftover in the fridge so I can just heat up the meat and it's fast.

[KaibaSama]

Maybe some eggs? They're quite easy to prepare and quick. I'd personally buy items that can be quick to make. If they don't go bad quick, that's even better so I don't have to stuff my face trying to eat everything before it rots.

Edited by Satsuki, 17 January 2014 - 04:52 PM.

[March]

Ooh yes, I love eggs. and sandwiches, an obvious solution. The problem I always face is eating things before they go bad... 

[Waser Lave]

Ooh yes, I love eggs. and sandwiches, an obvious solution. The problem I always face is eating things before they go bad... 

 

Get plenty of things which last well like dried pasta, rice, herbs, spices, tinned fruit and vegetables etc and then combine them with fresh ingredients and you can make loads of different things.

[Emily]

I always get a lot of ground beef and then think about all the stuff I can make with that. Hamburger patties, tacos, casseroles, etc. I even made an interesting nacho concoction thing. Maybe get some soup, salad stuff or things for breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc) Popcorn and pretzels aren't bad snacks. I also get chicken breast that I can make with yellow rice or just chicken tenders to throw in the oven. 

[Badger]

Ooh yes, I love eggs. and sandwiches, an obvious solution. The problem I always face is eating things before they go bad... 

 

I suggest investing in a basic recipe book and making family-sized basic meals. e.g. Pasta bakes, curries, shepherd's pie...

Portion out the leftovers, freeze, then reheat as needed.

 

Speaking of curries, they are one of the most versatile things ever to make if you bought generic meat and veg and need to get rid of it before it goes bad.

Fry chopped onion in oil with a dollop of curry paste or powder, throw in your meat, then add coconut milk and veges...

[Turnip]

RICE N BEANS! They're super cheap and filling! If you store uncooked rice properly it takes foreeevver to go bad. It's always good to have potatoes and pasta lying around too since you can do so much with them. Canned/frozen vegetables can be pretty cheap too so its good having those around for when you want them ^^ And with ramen you can add loads of things to it! Like ham, hard boiled eggs, bacon and all sorts of other stuff! You should really look into it~

 

I just had a look through my recipes folder and found this!

Spoiler

Cheap-Ass Chili

Ingredients:
1-3lbs ground beef
2 cans of Kidney beans
2 normal sized cans of Tomatoes (diced)

Method:
Cook the ground beef and break it up into as small pieces as possible.
Drain the extra meat juice; add the drained tomatoes and stir. For thick chili, don't drain the kidney beans.
For thinner, soupier chili drain one can of kidney beans. Add chili spice to taste (I like my deep red) and stir, and simmer for at least 3-5 hours.

It will be done when the beans are soft, and everything is a rich colour and tastes of the spices you added.
Will serve 2-5 people depending on the circumstance.

Optional: Dried peppers, peppers, celery, onion, anything you can think of.
Top with grated cheddar, a dollop of sourcream, and eat with corn chips (tostitos) or buttered bread.

Note: This is a very very basic recipe. It's also extremely cheap and will taste just as good, if not better the next day.
This is ideal if you are extremely poor, because canned kidney beans/tomatoes can and will go on sale for as little as 50 cents each.
It is also several times more filling than shitty instant noodles.

 

Don't forget that soup exists! God there are so many different kinds of soups out there and it's all pretty cheap! I'm gonna make me some carrot and coriander soup in a little bit and hhnnghh god is it amazing <3 Also if pasta sauce is too expensive at your local shops and you actually want something on your pasta, you can use butter and some garlic salt and it tastes amazing~ :3

[Applepi]

I always cooked some sort of meat (chicken, ground beef, sausage, etc) early in the week and then incorporated it into different dishes throughout the week. You can add it to pasta, mexican, pretty much anything! The world is your oyster

[leurz]

Leurz' ez-mode homemade burritos:

 

Buy: tortillas, shredded cheese, and meat/beans. (canned beans/sandwich meat until you have confidence in your cooking)

Also something suitably spicy for your tastebuds.

 

Put tortilla on plate, spread cheese evenly on tortilla. Microwave one minute until just melted.

if you got sandwich slices, cut them up. If you got canned beans, drain them first. If you got raw stuff, cook it first.

Put meat and/or beans in a linear mound on center of tortilla. 

put salsa/sriracha/awesomesauce on top of this

 

fold like eso:

 

Microwave for 2-3 more minutes. until hot and delicious.

 

You can also put almost anything else in burritos. rice n beans, potatoes, scrambled eggs, leftovers, saute'd vegetables. Anything.

[Rocket]

I cook my meals on Sunday for the week. Chicken with some sort of veggie, broccoli, asparagus, brussle sprouts and chop up sole fresh fruit like strawberries or watermelon.

[March]

Ooh, thanks for all the great suggestions guys! I'm gonna have to put some of this stuff on my grocery list.

 

Man, being an adult is hard tho.

[Pomegranate]

Get a crockpot, you can throw some crap in it in the morning and come home to a nice hot dinner, pretty much 0 effort for a great meal.  

 

Anyway, you should first stock up on basics.  Buy stuff like flour, sugar, spices, rice, etc that doesn't go bad and is pretty cheap.  Then what I do is buy what's on sale (meat/protein/veggie wise) and when I get home, I google recipes for whatever I just bought.  Since I have the staples like spices, rice, sugar, etc, I can usually whip something up that's not too expensive.

[Speedracer]

pasta and chicken two staples that you can give a lot of different flavors and both are hard to cook wrong.

[iKate]

pasta and chicken two staples that you can give a lot of different flavors and both are hard to cook wrong.

dead

 

[Sweeney]

pasta and chicken two staples that you can give a lot of different flavors and both are hard to cook wrong.

Chicken is actually pretty easy to under or overcook. Especially if you're brand new to "real cooking".

I second the call for eggs. You can do a lot with eggs, and they're still good even if you overcook them a little bit. I would get sausage, too, and practise cooking it in different ways - boiled (ew), baked, fried, stewed etc. You'd have to work very hard to ruin a precooked sausage link.

[Nalah]

My family has gone away for a few weeks, so I'm cooking for myself for the first time ever, so this thread is quite helpful to me too

 

Cooking stuff in my fridge right now:

A bag of tiny potatoes (microwaved, or mashed to go with any meal, really easy)

A small broccoli tree

Carrot 

Onion 

Celery (Goes in a stir fry, or great for snacking on ) 

About 300g of chicken

Lettuce

Baby spinach leaves

Cheese

Eggs

 

I probably forgot something, but I like vegetables a lot, the above in particular, but they're also quite cheap, and easy to cook with  

[Syntax]

Rice is good if you like rice. You can put a bunch of stuff with the rice and fry it for fried rice. They keep well too.

[jinq]

buy Frozen foods from the supermarket, at least it's cheaper than fast food.

[Nymh]

buy Frozen foods from the supermarket, at least it's cheaper than fast food.

 

I second frozen food.  But I also want to suggest freezing food that isn't already frozen!!  What we do is buy things when they are on offer (bread, milk, yogurt, fresh meat) and freeze it immediately.  Any type of bread freezes VERY well, you would never know it was frozen.  Just chuck the whole loaf/bag in there and pull it out when you need it.

 

Also if you can get chicken on offer, you can dice and bake/grill it, then freeze the diced chunks and pull them out in portions to add to whatever you want.  Pop them in the microwave for about a minute in a dish with a splash of water and BOOM.  This would probably work with cubes of beef too, but I've never tried it.

 

If you can afford it, I would suggest two things: a dehydrator, and a crock-pot.  With the dehydrator you can preserve lots of fruits, vegetables, meats, fresh herbs and mushrooms to store and use later.  The crock-pot's praises were already sung in this thread, so I won't go on about it, but I looooooooove my crock pot.  I'm the queen of chilies and stews.

[Sweeney]

Instant ramen is the bomb! Go get it from your local asian supermarket instead of buying some random american wannabe noodles. Genuine asian instant ramen is the best thing in the world

Are you kidding?

[Waser Lave]

Have you even tried them?

 

March said she wanted to get out of the habit of just making food like instant noodles though.