Cheap, easy, n quick
 

And I don't mean the strippers that work up the street.... :thumbsup: I am a poor poor poor college student and I was wondering if anyone has any food ideas that are cheap, easy, n quick. I have access to a fridge/freezer, stove microwave and lots of cabinet space. PLEASE share.... beef stew and pizza are getting old.

Chili! I used to live on chili as a student, either on rice or over a baked potato. But you have to use raw ingredients as those packets of chili mix are pretty expensive. I used to make a ton of it at once, freeze it and then heat up portions as and when required.

well...one of my favs way back when involved bologna, so if you eat it, here is something interesting to do with it

you'll need
can of chili (I always used Hormel with no beans)(OR you can use homemade)
bologna
bread

toast bread without butter (however many pieces you wanna eat)
fry the bologna
heat up the chili

put bologna on top of the bread and cover with chili

if you dont like bologna ignore the post :lol:

Get a foreman grill, you can make grilled chees, burgers, whatever on those things, and they don't take up much room.

Two words........

TOP RAMIN

I love my Foreman grilling machine! I make sandwiches all the time with it! That's something cheap that'll last you. You can mix up the meat, cheese and condiments for variety if you want. Make a good sandwich and then grill it. Mmm...melty.

Agreed... the Foreman grill has to be one of the best things ever to grace my kitchen (next to my wok, of course). It's a terribly simple idea that just works like a charm!

Bobby, You can always come over for Dinner. Just call about 6 to see when we are eating and what we are having. We usually go out on Thursday.

I was hoping that your Dad would "step up to the plate" and make sure you are fed. I guess he needs more toys. ROFLMAO!

They buy me cereal.... lol but im too cheap to go buy milk so we just eat it dry and wash it down with water... yum yum. Oh well this lacka food will motivate me to take advantage and go work out or something.

You can do a lot with flour tortillas. Get some tortillas and a can of refried beans and a jar of salsa for a decent tasting burrito. Strips of meat and rice wrapped in a tortilla makes a pretty good meal.

RAMEN!!!! And Easy Mac with chopped hot dogs!

I'll mail you some soy milk for your cereal :D It has protein that you otherwise won't get, since you can't afford meat and all. Damn, have I been there.

*reminisces of meatless times in college*

i make meat sauce and noodles, purely because it's easy to make and fairly inexpensive. All ya need is Tomato Sauce, ground beef, noodles/pasta, garlic, and whatever veggies and seasoning you like. I always use garlic, mushrooms and celery, and oregano and basil to season. Make a big pot, and freeze (yay mom for tupperware presents at christmas *chuckle*). If you choose to pursue, PM me for simple directions :)

This is little Bobby's dad and he has plenty to eat :rolleyes: Boo, just because he does not have your 300LB build does not mean the boy is not eating. (AKINS worked?) :thumbsup: Bobby, got several cans of chili you can have if you still remember our phone number.

Have a good day.

For me I like Mac an Cheese mixed up with a can of chili, also pasta/rice sides and throwing in a can of chicken. Stuff like that is easy and not half bad.

mom gave me food money tonight... commisary tomorrow.. then home for laundry... lol college life.

Not sure what area you live in, but you need to find the cheap food stores. Aldi is one chain of them, and I've been t a couple others. Honestly I could go there with 50 bucks and get a months worth of food. A brick of ramen of course, but then there were the cheap frozen burritos, lunch meats were cheap, frozen familysize dinner things like turkey n gravy, chicken n dumplings, fish sticks, soups too, canned veggies for like ten cents a can... yeah, cheap food stores are great.
Tuna caserole is cheap to make, Spaghetti is pretty cheap too. I'm not sure how to make it, but I'm sure theres gotta be alot of cheap things to do with rice that turn into good meals.
/me tosses his two cents in and wanders off.

foodnetwork.com Anything by Racheal Ray. Usually about thirty minutes to cook and usually very cheap to make. They also have an advanced search engine where you can tell it what you have and it will tell you what you can make with it...

<=====College student
the foodnetwork.com meal generator deal is awesome. I use it all the time.

How cheap, easy and quick do you want to go? Fresher is always better, and that is proven in the movie "Supersize Me" - I doubt I'll ever eat at McDs again.
Cheap - shop around.
Quick and easy - look at some of the post here. Or, read some cook books in the library.

instant noodles! Their pretty good for cheap (and really unhealthy stuff... mad MSG's) and quick and easy to make.

Sheperds Pie
 

Make mashed potatoes
fry up ground beef.
Put ground beef in cassarole dish
next canned vegetable soup
next layer green beans
next mashed potatoes
put in oven at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.
you can put it all together and refrigerate to cook later.

It tastes good and you feel like you just ate something oh so healthy.

One of my favorites was make your own pizza. Get the pizza crust mixes in the bags - you just add water. They're less than a dollar. Sauce is like $.50 - $1. Cheese is a little expensive. Put stuff you have at home on top (got sandwich ham?) It feels like a super treat and it's cheap.

Eggs you can make in a thousand ways and they are filling. Rice is super cheap and goes with everything. can't go wrong with peanut butter and jelly. I used to live on those lipton noodles in the bags. Add water and butter and you're good to go. Can you find a job where they feed you lunch? I worked in assisted living and we had full kitchen privileges. I wouldn't eat all day and then just go to work.

OK, this is gonna sound gross, but they're actually pretty yummy. Get some premade pizza dough in a can (or make your own if you know how), some BBQ sauce, some hotdogs, and some mozarella. Prep the dough, dice a couple of hotdogs, and assemble it like a Calzone. MAKE SURE YOU SEAL IT GOOD. Bake @ around 375 until golden and everything's melted. Iff'n you want to get fancy, lightly brush the top with EV olive oil about 8-10 minutes before it's done. I started eating these in college, and DAMN if they weren't addictive.

Another good and CHEAP way to go is ersatz tuna casserole. Get 3-4 cans of tuna, a big package of egg noodles, a couple of cans of cream of mushroom soup, a can of cram of onion soup, a big can of sliced mushrooms, and a can of peas. Boil the noodles until they are halfway done, drain. Drain tuna. Throw everything together in a big casserole pan except the peas, and add a couple of soupcans worth of milk and water, and stir the hell out of it. Once it looks pretty well mixed, stir in the peas. Bake until it looks crusty on top. This used to feed me for a week per recipe.

As you may be able to tell, I cook by the "keep throwing stuff into it until it smells good" method. And I had a cast-iron stomach. ;)

i dunno who bobby or his dad is..but his dad seems angry and scary...and i'm sorry if someone already posted it..but meat loaf (or veggie meatloaf)..it can be frozen..serve with canned gravy (can also be frozen) and mashed potato and some random veggie..old fashioned and wholesome

I often made the following, which was easy to make and lasted for several meals:

Easy to make taco salad

Brown about 1 lb. hamburger, then drain the grease.
Cut up one tomato, some lettuce, onion and black olives
Buy a bag of tortilla chips, open the bag and throw in all the above-mentioned ingredients plus some shredded cheese and one bottle of catalina salad dressing.
Shake the bag and enjoy.
I dunno if it's really less messy to make than normal taco salad, but I always thought it was handy to just make most of it right in the bag.

I hate my Forman grill. It never gets used.

Grilled cheese sandwiches
The roasted chicken from Albertson's or something (last a couple of days)
Rice - woot!
Beef Panang - all time favorite http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Rshow.asp?C='Thai'&R='Beef%20Panang'

can someone post a direct link to the foodnetwork's meal generator ?
I've looked all over the site, can't find it :(

thanks.

eggs!!!

eggs are realitively cheap.
you can do all sorts of wonderfully yummy things with eggs.
boiled, scrambled, omelets, fried, deviled, etc.
you can make egg salad sandwiches or even add a can of tuna fish.

"Tuna Glunk"
Make a pot of Mac & Cheese, stir in a can of sweet, young peas and a drained can of tuna. Presto!

I will also second DJ Happy and say that Chili was one of my, and all my friend's, staples during college. It does take a little of an investment though. To really "live" on chili you'll need to make a LOT of it and that requires a large stockpot. I got lucky and got one for X-mas one year.

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=39322

worked for us and kept for ages

First, get a rice cooker. Then get some NikoNiko rice, tuna, and your choice of miracle whip or mayonaise.

Cook the rice, mix the tuna with the miracle whip or mayonaise, then add the mixed tuna to the rice.

Add soy sauce if desired.


So tastey, healthy, and so so cheap.

just remember that cheap shouldn't be totally unhealthy! you don't wanna end up in debt because you were malnutritioned and ended up in the hospital!
firstly, get a multivitamin, take it every day- that'll help with overall health.
invest in a water filter, cause if you're drinking city water that stuff is nasty and will make your food taste wierd. i get water from my local organic grocery store, it's a BYO container and it's 39c a gallon- not bad

anyway, i say go with rice and pasta- hit up the Zataran's when they go on sale, they're cajun rice mixes and they're usually about 79c a box- one box is usually two meals and they're good! i like the beans and rice one- tastes good, and is filling. with plain rice you can add butter and soy sauce and you're good to go- invest in fresh veggies (which are usually cheap) to liven it up, and to get your nutrition. pasta is a no brainer- get some tomato sauce, add some garlic and some dried herbs (you can get those really cheap at Family Dollar, make sure you crush them up a little bit before adding them to the sauce to release their flavor). big pots of spagetti sauce last forever and can be frozen. also, hit up the cheapie groceries. i didn't see where you were from, but if you know of Family Dollar stores they sell cereal/poptarts/ boxed goods cheap and personally i think their offbrand pop tarts are better than the real thing! mac and cheese with hot dogs is also good. another thing i would recommend is save up some money, like take your pocket change and put it in a jar or something, then every week or two treat yourself to a "high class" meal, like get some ground beef and make tacos or invest in going out somewhere and just getting an appetizer. it's small things like that which will let you know you love yourself even when faced with being a poor poor poor college student :)

Chicken pot pies - Easy to make and so so tasty! This recipie makes about 6 servings.

2 (9 inch) deep dish frozen pie crusts, thawed
1 (15 ounce) can mixed vegetables, drained
2 cups cooked, diced chicken breast
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 -Roll out the pie crusts and line the bottom of whatever you are using to cook them. We have these little pie dishes, but anything that it will fit in should do. If you really want you can just use what the pie crusts come in, they also work fine.

2 -In a bowl combine the mixed vegetables, chicken and the cream of chicken soup. Pour this into the pie crust. Place the other pie crust on top of the mixture and make sure you seal the edges and poke holes in top crust. Or it'll get REAL messy

3- Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

4- Enjoy!

Chili made from hot dogs is pretty good. "Specially if you slice them up & fry them first. Mac & cheese can be a little more appetizing with chopped onion & tomatoes.
And potatoes! Make hash browns & sprinkle on montreal steak spice. Good stuff!
Or cut into wedges, and yop with italian dressing & parmesan cheese. Bake until done. Apples are usually pretty cheap, I remember eating a lot of apple crisp after moving out of the house.

Here's what I lived on for a few months in college. It doesn't get any cheaper or easier than this.

1 package ramen noodles
1 kraft single (or store brand equivalent american cheese)

Cook noodles, drain, put in big plastic cup, add torn up american cheese slice and 1/2 of the seasoning pack from the ramen. Stir. Ta-da! Instant really poor man's macaroni and cheese!

Well, it seems as if everyone has already mentioned spaghetti and chili. Those were my staples for about a year. A pot of chili would last at least 4 meals. Variations are serve it over tortilla chips with cheese or french fries.
When I first moved out on my own my grocery budget for the month was $100. I would buy the family size of chicken and hamburger, then split it up into single servings and wrap in freezer wrap and bags. It is cheaper to buy on bulk and on sale. Vegetables are also very cheap. Buy veggies for stirfries and serve with rice. All you need is soy sauce, corn starch for thickener, and garlic. The garlic is also handy for spicing up a can of tomato sauce and serving with pasta. The cans of Hunt's are cheaper than the jars of Ragu or Prego. You can also buy a jar of pesto. A little bit goes a long way when tossed with pasta.
Canned soup and Ramen noodles are also cheap meals. My husband likes to scramble eggs and put them in the Ramen noodles. I guess it gives variety.
Hope some of those help you out.

I hope this doesn't gross anyone out, but I've found mac & cheese with a bit of pasta sauce mixed in after the M & C is done makes for a absolultely wonderful flavor. Cheesey and yet flavorful. I still to this day mix in some pasta sauce with my mac & cheese when I get the urge.

Learn to love the potato, and learn the many many ways to cook the potato. At ten pounds for dollar, it's way cheaper than ramen, and probably a little healthier.

Baked potatoes (can be done in the microwave)
mashed potatoes,
hashed browns,
potato wedges (just like french fries, except not quite as good),
scalloped,
potato soup
potatoes IN soup
potato pancakes
potato salad

And if you make a lot of something, I like to freeze it directly into a zip lock bag. It's easier to defrost, and makes a convenient one serving.

Also, I've found that buying veggies at a farmers market is a great deal cheaper than buying them at the grocery store.

Don't buy anything unless it's on sale.

Drink more water.

Since pasta is so easy, but can get boring pretty quickly, you can try this thing I made. It is like a baked spaghetti(or whatever noodles you got) type thing. Just put sauce, cooked noodles, cheese, and an assortment of vegetables, spices, and possibly chicken if you want it together in a oven safe container.

Make sure there is plenty of cheese so when it melts if kind of holds it all together.

It is surprising good and quick and can take a variety of different flavors depending on what you put in it.

Oatmeal porridge: mix ½ cup of porridge oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl, add a pinch of salt. Microwave for ~2 minutes. Serve with milk, sugar, jam or whatever. Rumor has it you can fry leftover porridge, but I've never tried.

Take cold leftover mac & cheese (homemade works better, kraft dinner is too mushy). Add a little salad dressing or mayo, a little chopped green onion, celery and a little chopped pickle (my fave) and you have an impromptu pasta salad. Even just with the green onion its good.

A Foreman is invaluable. You can pick up premade burger patties in the meat section for just a couple bucks (Wal-Mart groceries, anyway). That's cheap and easy.


My recent favorite is cheap, so easy and actually delicious. Someone mentioned making a calzone with pre-made pizza dough (the refrigerated kind in a tube). Getcha a package of that and flatten it out on a baking sheet. In the middle of one side, put some diced tomatoes (you can go fresh, or pick up a can - they even make them with seasonings already in there). Spices are good, but not required - oregano, italian seasoning, etc. Add any pizza toppings you might want (I've tried canned mushrooms and pepperoni), and plenty of mozerella. You can also add a little ricotta and romano cheeses, if you want to splurge. Fold over and seal the edges well, and bake at 350 for about 20 - 25 minutes.

My son is 6 and will eat nearly the whole thing if I'd let him.

Oh, and muffin mixes. Just add milk or water to most of them. You can add extras you may have, like banana or nuts. I once chopped up an apple and threw in a batch of apple cinnamon. Yummy.

For breakfast...I was always a fan of the cereal or oatmeal that came in single servings. Its cheap, easy and a good start to the day.

Omelets (spelling?) are cheap and easy. Get a bunch of eggs and any kind of cheese or meat and you can put it in an omlet (that looks wrong also). Try to put a can of black beans (drain the can first) with some cheese and and good salsa on top or mixed in...good stuff.

-1 can salmon
-A roughly equivalent amount of instant mashed potato flakes
-1 egg
-Chopped onion (you can get this in dehydrated form, it's sold in the spice section)
-Whatever other seasonings you have -- red pepper, garlic salt, and a little bit of smoke flavoring work really well.

optional: a little bit of beer for extra flavor, plus some extra potato flakes to soak it up.

Mash it all together, form into patties, and fry 'em up on a skillet on low-medium heat until golden brown and nice and hot throughout. Use a little cooking spray and you have a very healthy meal, or use about a half inch of vegetable oil and it's wonderfully artery-clogging.

Canned fish in general kicks ass for cheap dining. VERY high protein, low fat, and a good source of calcium if you don't mind eating the kinds that have softened bones in it.

Quick, easy, cheap and tasty. Serve with potato bake and salad if you wanna splurge :)

MARINATED CHICKEN WINGS

INGREDIENTS
12 chicken wings ½ bottle teriyaki sauce
¼ cup water

DIRECTIONS
1. Marinate chicken wings in sauce for 1 hour.
2. Add water and cook covered over high heat until chicken starts to come away from the bones.
3. Remove lid and turn constantly as liquid boils away.

1 lb of frozen corn
1 can of black beans
2 cans of mexican stewed tomatoes
Any Spices you like.

Drain excess liquid from can and thaw the corn.
Mix together in a large bowl and eat or heat it up and but in a tortilla.
Takes care of many food groups, corn = grain/starch, beans = protein, tomato = fruit/vegtable. I could live off this stuff.

My advice to all college students is to get a rice cooker. Rice is dirt cheap, and you can throw in anything from a can, add water to the mark on the cooker, close the lid, and press the button and 15 minutes later you have a delicious meal that won't put 15 lbs a year on you. Rice cookers are also dorm-approved.

also, one of the glorious things about cooking in college is the privilige of making the garbage omelet on saturdays. Get a frying pan, toss in darn near anything that isn't turning green in the fridge, add 3 eggs, cheese, cook, and flip. Or scramble it instead.

Actually, they largely aren't.

Very few dorms I've been in or around (I worked in residential life for a while) on this campus and others allow appliances such as rice cookers in the rooms themselves. In my personal dorm, you had to use your rice cooker in the floor kitchen or risk being written up by the RA.

ALWAYS check the rules for your dorm before buying/bringing ANY small appliance into a dorm room. As an RA I always hated having to tell students that no, they couldn't use the new microwave their aunt had bought them for graduation and no, coffee pots aren't allowed in rooms...and George Foreman grills are a big no too.

/threadjack

this is one to make when you don't have a hot date that night. Garlic & oil pasta. Boil pasta.

Saute chopped garlic in olive oil.

Add pasta to pan once garlic is lightly browned, and toss.

You're done.

Tastes great, tastes expensive, costs almost nothing.

Potatoes are cheap & can be used in tons of ways.
Where i'm at at least once a month you can find a ten pound bag for 1 or 2 bucks on sale. unpeeled, cleaned, microwave for 3 to 10 minutes depending on size and you got a baked potato. peeled & cooked the same way then mash'em, add milk & or sour cream and youve got cheap mashed potatoes. make extra mashed so you can take the left overs & make potato pancakes by forming flat round paties, butter a pan & cook to golden.

Also, anytime you have the cash to eat fast food go to a place that has the condiments set out so you dont have to ask for them & stock up.

Go to Wal-Mart or your local grocery store and get yourslef a $1 loaf of French bread, some cheap cold cuts, and whatever chees you want. Cut off a section of the loaf and slice it in half (top/bottom not left/right). Lay them crust side down on a paper plate, put some meat and cheese on (veggies if, you choose to do so, can go later), pop it in the microwave for a minute or two (just make sure the cheese has completely melted). It's good with bologna or some nice sandwich meat as well. For a little extra flavor, put a little extra virgin olive oil on the bread first.

Also, fried bologna or turkey is cool. Just put it in a frying pan on the stove and let it get a little brown or black.

And as many have alreay said, get a Foreman. It's the easiest way to grill fish I've found, and I've cooked just about everything on it.

Hate to make another post, but wanted to chip in on this. This is AWESOME. Just be careful when selectin and cooking the garlic. Get it too brown and it tastes god-awful. And don't use "flavored" olive oils. When they get hot they emit an ungodly smell and taste like poo on a stick. I recommend Bertolli brand for olive oil. Good quality and not that expensive.

I'll join all the people here in praising the Foreman grill. It's great! you can cook so many things on it very quickly.

Burgers are easy to make. Veggie burgers taste pretty good and are definitely healthier. And if you want more options, salmon burgers taste great (they're less than 1$/patty at Trader Joe's too).

On a personal level, I like having lots of oregano on everything (I just eat it on its own sometimes.. but you don't have to :) ).. One small jar of it lasts for a while and isn't that expensive. It just gives a great taste to everything!

*a future of going to college with the grill has been shattered *

What's the rationale for their prohibition, somehow a fire hazard, eh ? :confused:


thanks,
keyshawn