QuickOverview

by Jakalyn Mitchell

When you are a college student, you often don't have much time to cook, nor do you really want to. You also don't usually have access to an oven and stove if you are staying in a dorm. It is also very possible that you don't have much money with which to buy food. You also likely have a very small refrigerator in your room, so it's not possible to keep many items inside. So it is very possible that, given all of these facts, you will not likely be making lobster anytime soon. Instead, you must get innovative.

Luckily for you, there are many products in every grocery store that were meant for people in your position. These items are quick and easy, and best of all, cheap. The first must-have food item for any college student is noodles. There are several great aspects to noodles, including that they are cheap, they are easy to make, they require no refrigerator space, there are several different varieties, and most taste good. This can include everything from macaroni and cheese to ramen noodles, to soup in a can, and more.

The best part is, all you need to make these are a bowl, some water, a microwave, and of course the noodles. There are many variations of what you can do with noodles, even to make the traditional better than average. Plain noodles are excellent when covered in tomato sauce. Macaroni and cheese becomes a healthier meal when you add in a can of tuna fish. Ramen noodles get even better tasting when you add in a can of chili. These noodle meals are all fine by themselves, but become much more filling, and better tasting, when adding in extras.

If your dorm will allow you to have a small grill, such as a George Forman grill, these can be excellent cookers. There are many benefits to using this type of grill. They take up very little space (often a very important factor in an already too-small dorm room), they cook quickly (often a benefit for a busy college student), and they can make a wide variety of foods. You can cook everything from grilled cheeses to steaks on one of these grills extremely quickly. If you don’t have much refrigerator space you can purchase big items the day you will cook it, and simply keep some bread and cheese and butter on hand for those quick grilled cheese meals (this meal can be even better when you have a bowl of noodles alongside the sandwich). Another quick-easy-cheap thing to cook on this grill is spam. It is canned, so it needs no refrigeration, and it is extremely cheap. It is an excellent thing to cook and make a sandwich with, or cook and serve with macaroni and cheese.

Another good option is canned foods that can be microwaved, such as raviolis, beef stew, chili, many varieties of soup, chicken and dumplings, and more. All of these items are very simple and quick to make. All you have to have for these is a can opener, the bowl and the microwave.

If you can obtain a grill such as this, an excellent way to save money on meals and still be able to afford the good stuff, such as chicken breasts or pork chops, is to split it with other dorm dwellers. If four people all pitch in to buy pork chops and a can of beans, the cost can be as little as three or four dollars per person for an excellent meal.

Another quick meal is burritos. These burritos are college style burritos, so you should not expect them to be like going to a Mexican restaurant, it's just not the same. But, the benefit is that they are quick, easy and cheap, and they provide a slight variation in taste from the typical noodle-based meal. All you need to make decent burritos is a can of refried beans, some tortillas, and a slice of cheese. Heat the beans up in the microwave. In the meantime, split a slice of cheese in half (no tools required, just fold it in half, it will break) and lay each piece in the center of one tortilla. Then, spread the beans on the cheese, fold it up into burrito form, let it sit for just a minute (long enough for the cheese to melt slightly), and enjoy.

There are many other options for the easiest and cheapest and quickest meals for while you are in college. In your local bookstore (or possibly your college library) there are many different cookbooks that are intended solely for college students like yourself and are filled with recipes. You can also find many good meals by searching on the internet for the words "easy recipes" or "quick meals" or any other combination of these words. You will be able to find more recipes and more ideas that you know what to do with, and they should easily be enough to last you four years or more.

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