This came from a parent group for college students. Not an A&M group.

This sounds really expensive

America's Test Kitchen should offer free subscriptions to students.

If you know how to use a microwave, it is not a big leap to boil water or use a skillet. You can make a lot of dishes with those three tools. There are also a lot of really easy dishes baked in the oven as well. I don't understand this level of avoidance.

Sometimes I pay people to cook for me…at restaurants.

ttt for dabo

Both of my boys are at A&M and cook almost all their meals. If they are buying food, they are eating out and not having it delivered.

I just made a gigantic pot of chicken and dumplings that cost less than $15, and will feed 3 people 2-3 times easily. Its not hard to eat cheap.

Recipe below. TIA

Some weeks I cook, some weeks I order prepared food from Whole Foods or the like.

Its people just being lazy. I'm not the biggest fan of cooking, but its essential to know how and its not that hard.

My kids cook regularly at college, they like to cook…I can understand kids that would struggle to cook in college if their parents can't/won't cook.

Isn't burnt toast at the base of the Food Pyremid?

ddp

8 lbs - 22 lbs

Cromagnum said:

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I just made a gigantic pot of chicken and dumplings that cost less than $15, and will feed 3 people 2-3 times easily. Its not hard to eat cheap.

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Chicken and sausage gumbo is even better because it freezes very well (unlike dumplings...which I also make). We can eat off one pot for a solid week AND freeze up around 30 single serving size dishes to eat off of the next month or two as well. I like to put a small amount of rice in the bottom of each dish so that its a complete meal you can heat up in the microwave in a few minutes.

1. Basic cooking is easy. At age 11 my ex could cook entire family meals. I developed interest in cooking as a teenager because my grandmother was seriously the best cook I've ever met and only cooked from scratch. As a freshman at A&M I was on a meal plan at Scbisa even though I lived off campus. It was crazy on some mornings I would take the bus to campus go eat on campus and then return, the whole process taking about 90 minutes. A waste of time. Eventually, I got off of the meal plan and made the decision that my roommate and I could make some gourmet meals at a low price and save money or because we were poor we could eat cheap fast food so we weened off fast food slowly. When I got on campus, my junior at A&M I got into a dorm. Male dorms were hard to get into back then and there was a 2.5 year waiting list. I loved the convenience of living on campus and enjoyed dining at the dorm cafeteria as it was only a three minute walk away. Decent food, no food prep, and no cleanup. It took me 10 minutes to walk to Zackery, which was the engineering building versus a 30 minute drive if I took my car.

Later I learned to cook better and an air fryer and crock pot is very simple and pretty much mistake free as you learn how to adjust things towards the end with the crock pot. Can make a very healthy tasty stew and turn it on low in the morning and forget about it.

I do not cook near as often as I should. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks. I have got to get better about this. Just hard sometimes working 2 jobs so cooking takes time away from me making $$. But I spend way too much money on eating out/to go. I need to do better about oven meals if I don't have time to cook.

NormanEH said:

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Recipe below. TIA

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Cook a whole chicken in a pot of water (with chicken bouillon) that just covers the bird. I usually use 4-6 teaspoons of chicken bouillon , but you could use your favorite broth instead. One medium sweet onion cut in half. 3-4 cloves of garlic. Black pepper to taste. Boil with a lid until cooked through.

In a big mixing bowl. 6 eggs. 4 cups of flour. 1/4 cup of bisquick. 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon and black pepper to taste. Enough water to mix the dough into a thick mix. Should just barely roll off a spoon but not be free flowing.

Finish cooking the chicken and remove the bird and onions from the pot. Return to rolling boil and drop the dumpling mix a spoon at a time into it. Keep the spoon hot with the broth and it will go easier. Gently stir until dumplings are cooked through. Kill the heat. Shred up chicken into chunks and add. I like a spoonful of sour cream in my bowl with it.

I try and cook dinner most days. During the week it will oftentimes just be fast things that don't require much prep or attention. Weekends I do more adventurous things and try to have enough leftover for work lunches

Chicken thighs are the last thing someone who doesn't cook should cook, unless they are gonna burn the crap out of them.

I won't say i was a good cook when I was on my own, but my roommate and I would do a pot of some rice a roni type mixture and some grilled chicken or basic sausage like johnsonville. We lived. After a fre years I got motivated to actually apply what I had been taught at home and got pretty good. It does take practice to start innovating weeknight meals.

I wouldn't spite someone for ordering Factor meals or whatever during busy times. This person sounds crazy though. At some point all prefab meals start to taste the same.

OnlyForNow said:

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Chicken thighs are the last thing someone who doesn't cook should cook, unless they are gonna burn the crap out of them.

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Wait, wut? That don't make no sense. Thighs are just about the easiest meat in the world to cook, and are extremely forgiving. It takes a real idiot to mess up chicken thighs. Even if you overcook the crap out of them they'll still be edible/good.

Lazy people don't cook. I'm not saying never eat out, but people who refuse to learn how to cook at least a couple of simple things are just lazy.

It's easy to cook edible food.
It's not hard to cook good food.

A moron and an Instapot can make 9 lbs of pork butt that'll feed several people and last for days.

Cromagnum said:

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NormanEH said:

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Recipe below. TIA

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Cook a whole chicken in a pot of water (with chicken bouillon) that just covers the bird. I usually use 4-6 teaspoons of chicken bouillon , but you could use your favorite broth instead. One medium sweet onion cut in half. 3-4 cloves of garlic. Black pepper to taste. Boil with a lid until cooked through.

In a big mixing bowl. 6 eggs. 4 cups of flour. 1/4 cup of bisquick. 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon and black pepper to taste. Enough water to mix the dough into a thick mix. Should just barely roll off a spoon but not be free flowing.

Finish cooking the chicken and remove the bird and onions from the pot. Return to rolling boil and drop the dumpling mix a spoon at a time into it. Keep the spoon hot with the broth and it will go easier. Gently stir until dumplings are cooked through. Kill the heat. Shred up chicken into chunks and add. I like a spoonful of sour cream in my bowl with it.

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You should try the Better Than Bouillon stuff that comes in jars - that stuff is like crack. I put a few tablespoons in every pot of dumplings and gumbo I make.

UTExan said:

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It ain't hard to marinate chicken thighs in lemon juice, crushed garlic, unsweetened yogurt, olive oil, thyme, rosemary and salt/pepper for four hours, then throw it all in a skillet on medium low heat until it's nice and done.
You've just cooked up some delicious Greek chicken.

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If you have to refer back to the ingredient list more than once while getting it all out of fridge/pantry, then it's no longer 'easy'. (In the context of helping someone getting into cooking who doesn't like to). Plus the chances they have all that crap in their house is slim to none.


chicken thighs
favorite multi seasoning (I like montreal)
Grill or skillet
Done

OnlyForNow said:

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Chicken thighs are the last thing someone who doesn't cook should cook, unless they are gonna burn the crap out of them.

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This seems backwards to me.. thighs are about the easiest thing to cook and not screw up. most people fail on chicken breast and make em dry as hell.

Is this now the chicken thighs recipe thread? Put em in a bag or bowl mixed with Italian seasoning, S&P, and balsamic vinaigrette. Leave overnight, then toss on the grill for a few minutes. Serve with I don't care.

My dad was a fantastic cook and taught me the joy and pride of making dishes my own. I still love to cook.




and I still miss him

Claude! said:

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Is this now the chicken thighs recipe thread? Put em in a bag or bowl mixed with Italian seasoning, S&P, and balsamic vinaigrette. Leave overnight, then toss on the grill for a few minutes. Serve with I don't care.

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Burdizzo said:

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Two rules of bachelor cooking I learned from a friend In college

* Ramen is a greater starter base

* Everything tastes better on a tortilla

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I'm going to be honest. A Ramen Taco doesn't sound very appealing

FIDO*98* said:

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Burdizzo said:

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Two rules of bachelor cooking I learned from a friend In college

* Ramen is a greater starter base

* Everything tastes better on a tortilla

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I'm going to be honest. A Ramen Taco doesn't sound very appealing

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Don't forget to use the seasoning packet. (The contents, not the packet)

Burdizzo said:

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FIDO*98* said:

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Burdizzo said:

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Two rules of bachelor cooking I learned from a friend In college

* Ramen is a greater starter base

* Everything tastes better on a tortilla

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I'm going to be honest. A Ramen Taco doesn't sound very appealing

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Don't forget to use the seasoning packet. (The contents, not the packet)

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As a literalist, I appreciate the additional information provided in parentheses.