very limited college student menu seeking help
 

i'm still in school, also working 2 part-time jobs to try to survive and i'm not so into cooking but i can't eat out all the time because i regularly run out of money when i do...

that being said, what the heck do you guys eat? i'm down with trying a little cooking here and there, but you gotta keep it simple because i have about the same cooking capabilities of a 7 year old

i'm just so tired of tuna sandwiches and cans of soup and lean cuisines, HALP

I definitely see how you feel! Here is kind of a list of things that i make that aren't too hard! Hope some of this helps a little bit if you have any questions let me know :)

Breakfast ideas

Breakfast Burritos- low carb wheat fajita tortilla, egg white, and salsa
Thomas bagel thins with laughing cow light cheese wedges
Egg whites and potatoes
Oatmeal pancakes
Vitatop

Lunch

Turkey Wrap (wheat tortilla with 99% fat free turkey, lettuce, or any veggies)
Grilled cheese (wheat bread and fat free cheese slices)
nachos (baked or multigrain tortilla chips, weight watchers low fat shredded cheese or kraft fat free cheese, avocado, salsa, shredded chicken)


Dinner

Turkey ham
Fajitas (chicken or steak, mushrooms, onion, bell peppers, salsa)
Chicken bake (cream of mushroom soup, brown rice, and chicken breasts)
Baked potato (turkey chili and fat free cheese)
Lime cilantro chicken
Spaghetti

Basically you just gotta start cooking! Find a super simple cook book, or look on the internet, and just practice. You will get better :) I like Jamie Oliver recipes myself, you do have to hunt a little bit for the tasty simple ones that dont have insanely expensive ingredients but they are there. Get excited about buying ingredients! And make sure you have what you need! I was a terrible cook until I moved out, planned my meals and actually bought what i needed to make them :lol: Sponge around your friends and have dinner parties and share recipes! It can be fun!

why not buy a slow cooker? you can put stuff in in the morning, and Voila! dinner is ready when you're done working! You can also put certain types of oatmeal in the slow cooker and it'll be ready for breakfast.

pita bread pizzas are easy. cook chicken nuggets (or those presliced chicken chunks) and add to a bag of premade salad. Make a taco salad-can of chili+tortilla chips+cheese+salsa.

Also feel free to PM me if you want more ideas, I have a lot.

You can also look at allrecipes.com. They have an ingredient search, so that if all you have is rice, garbanzo beans and chicken, you can still find something to make for dinner. :)

when i'm on a time crunch i'm a salad fan. i used to work 2 part-time jobs (one night shift, one day) and go to class full time, so i feel your pain. i would play with different ingredients, lettuce being the base...usually with some chicken or turkey (you can buy purdue pre-cooked, pre-sliced chicken...it's fantastic). i hate veggies so i usually would go with dried fruit or apple slices, chicken, occassionally some wheat pasta, mandarin oranges, etc. my fav is super simple, and if you keep the dressing on the side, it's great to take to work:
lettuce, craisins, walnuts, chicken, and raspberry vinagarette dressing. i lived off that salad for about 3 weeks last year. haha. it's great because you can pre-measure your ingredients into bags in the fridge and just grab whatever mood you're in on the way out the door. faboosh!

thanks guys, these are all awesome so far. i've planned to go grocery shopping after class tonight so now i actually have a tentative list to look out for :)

amyleigh-- i guess i didn't mention i kind of have a food restraint with lettuce, spinach, leafy green things. i miss salads so much, i love them but in february i got some pretty gnarly birth control-related blood clots and now i'm on a blood thinner for 6 months and i can't eat leafy green things because it has so much vitamin k in it

I agree with salad I pretty much eat one everyday. I use spinach pre-bagged, then I add carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms. It's easy. I do have to go to the store every week though because some stuff doesn't seem to last for 2 weeks before it goes bad.


EDIT: Just saw your above post ... that sucks! I wouldn't survive without it lol. Hmm. Well then I do like tuna on tortillas but that's not much different than a tuna sandwich. I like eggs and salsa. You can even make scrambled eggs in the microwave if you want to make is super easy lol.

Sweet potatoes ... you can cook those in the microwave too!

OH! no worries nixing the lettuce! fruit salads with nuts (even chicken) are fabulous too! i also made this tuna apple salad that sounds DISGUSTING but is heavenly, trust me. (1 can tuna, vanilla yogurt, raisins and apples...heaven. be sure to put lemon juice on the apples though or they'll go brown by lunch time)
2 cans tuna in water, flaked
1 c. non-fat or low-fat plain yogurt (vanilla is good too if you like it sweet)
1/2 c. raisins or currants
1 red apple, chopped
1 green apple, chopped
1/2 c. walnuts, toasted and chopped

This recipe tastes best after it has chilled for an hour...this makes about 2 servings for me...to keep the apples from going brown, put lemon juice on them. prep time is about 15 minutes (less if you actually cook but it takes me forever to cut apples haha)

this tuna salad sounds...interesting. i'm intrigued

When I was in college I was in the same boat! I spent a lot of money on junk food because I didn't have the time/the skills to actually cook real food. I've since started cooking more and more and I LOVE this website: http://www.eatingwell.com the stuff on there isn't overly complicated, doesn't require really expensive ingredients, and as a novice cook, it actually tastes good in the end! Plus, it gives you all the nutrition info if you're counting calories, watching carbs, etc.

If you have a stove and can chop some onions and carrots, I love lentil soup! Maybe not exactly season-appropriate because it's getting warmer, but I could make a big ole pot of it, freeze half of it, and eat it over brown rice all week long.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentil-Soup/Detail.aspx

You can leave out the spinach - plus the nutritional info says 6 servings? I got at least twice as many out of that. Tastes so much better than canned and is way cheaper than like Progresso per serving.

Honestly, from a broke student:

On sale canned fish. 1$, NOT the kind of stuff you over eat on. VERY nutricous - comes in saltwater, tomato sauce, mustard, etc,

A pot of something stew-like. Italian sausage soup or mushroom tofu stew when richer, groundbeef/bean/tacomix/tomato base when poorer. A whole pot would give me a solid 6 meals for 20$.

My BF's special is 'soupy macaroni' - pasta noodles or the macaroni variety or penne; cheeze wiz, ground beef, tomato sauce/juice depending on desired soupy-ness. FILLING, satisying, cheap when buying bulk quantities, just be careul not to overeat.

You shouldn't have more than one can of tuna per week. If you have too much, you can possibly get mercury poisoning.

That being said, what everyone else said. And soups, stews, etc. Go to Wal-Mart, Big Lots, any low-cost place.