College Cooking: A General Guide for College Kids Who Want Something New

Connoisseurs of college know what's on the meal plan. The typical college institutionalized food can get old fast. Even when you get the chance to enjoy take-out on your meager allowance, you know the drill: Chinese food, pizza, or Taco Bell. What is a lowly college student to do? Cooking that occasional Sunday night meal your college doesn't provide can be a great way to beat the college food blahs while enjoying time with your friends. This guide will give you some fun, easy, and quick ideas so you and your friends can get back to studying. (Yeah, right.)

If you're cooking for college friends, have them pitch in a couple of dollars each for dinner. It might seem like a lot for them, but remember you can cook a lot more food than you can buy pizzas on even a limited budget. A great idea is to open up your meal to the college campus. Hang fliers for your meal plans and cook it in a central kitchen with plenty of lounge place. You may have to front the money, but if you charge two or three dollars per person you can usually at least cover your costs.

The next part of this process is to decide what you are going to cook. It's convenient if you can get to the store before you decide to look at prices of produce and meat at your local market. Most colleges have shuttles that run to and from stores every couple of nights. If this is not possible, to the internet! The internet has a literally unlimited resource of recipes for you to try.

My advice is to stick with the basics especially if you are cooking for a larger group. Recipes with tons of ingredients or complicated instructions rarely turn out for large groups unless it is made in a large pan, such as a casserole. Make sure you are aware how many people will be attending (or at least have a general idea) so that you can buy enough of each ingredient. Check your math twice if you are dividing or multiplying the original recipe.

Chicken dishes are often a safe and easy way to go. Two trays of boneless, skinless chicken, a can of cream of mushroom soup, a box of rice, and some seasoning makes a great chicken and rice dish. On that note, rice and pasta dishes are great for larger groups because they are inexpensive and generally carnivore and vegetarian friendly. Opt for brown or wild rice. It might be a little more expensive, but it adds both nutrition and flavor to your meal.

For pasta dishes, scour your produce department for in season bell peppers, garlic, onions, zucchini, and tomatoes to make a fresh veggie pasta dish. Mix this with a box of pasta and either a canned sauce or a home made sauce. Home made spaghetti sauce is really easy to make. Buy a few cans of tomato sauce, paste, and steamed tomatoes and mix them to your desired consistency with some oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Let simmer for an hour or so with your sautéed veggies and you have a great, home made spaghetti dish. You can even buy a package of Italian sausage, cook it up, and toss that in the mix too.

Similarly, ground beef is a great main ingredient as it is pretty hard to mess up and it cheap. Tacos are an easy choice because people can choose what to include in theirs. Buy a head of lettuce, a few tomatoes, sour cream and cheese and you have a build-your-own-taco party. To make the taco meat, break up the ground beef and cook until it is all brown in a pan over medium heat. Strain off the extra fat and add a package of taco seasoning. It couldn't be easier.

If you are cooking for a vegetarian party them go for produce that is in season. Not only will it be cheaper, but it will taste better and fresher. Sautée a variety of veggies and buy or make a veggie dip. Then, make veggie kabobs with your produce and enjoy with your dip. For a more rounded supper add a rice pilaf dish with your sautéed vegetables. Much like beef and chicken, your vegetarian possibilities are limitless.

Make sure you have a detailed list of what you need and exact quantities. There's nothing worse than being short ingredients and not being able to get back to the store. A grocery list is most effective for this task.

See if you can get a few of your college friends to go with you. Splitting up the list can make it much easier on you. When everything is bought make sure you keep receipts so you can compare your actual costs to the money you end up with in the end.

When you get back to your college campus gather your friends together and enjoy a night of cooking, companionship, and fun!