College student looking for cheap, healthy & non-skilled cook friendly dinners :)

chelsieriggle32814

I'm a college student that runs on a varying schedule- oh and I'm in the process of really learning how to cook. I want to be healthy on a budget which isn't as hard as it sounds! I'm just struggling to find dinner recipes that taste good & are not to complex. And healthy of course! Also general tips for staying on track are welcome )

hholmberg2000

I'm in the same boat. I find if I prep food ahead of time for the week it makes it much easier! Chicken is one food that is easy to experiment with as it goes with most things. Try adding cinnamon and garlic to boneless skinless chicken thighs. Green tea is also a great way to give your metabolism a jump start!

LaTieya

I'm in the same situation and sometimes I make my food a head of time. Sometimes I make a grilled shrimp salid very easy to make .

lalaluvslife

My daughter is in the same place that you girls are. We have found Tyson make fresh pre-seasoned boneless skinless chicken breast that have great flavor and don't add a bunch of extra calories like so much of the seasoned or packaged meals etc do. We find them at Safeway in our area.

matt6050

Just wrapping up my second year at uni. I make stir-frys, salads, lettuce wraps, roasted vegetables, crock pot, nori rolls, spaghetti squash, sandwiches, tofu scrambles, smoothies; there is really no end to super simple, plant-based, and quick recipes. I would definitely take a bit of time to look up a few options. More than that, just experiment and have fun with it! Vegetables, fruits and whole grains can be mixed and matched extremely well, and then you just have to rustle up some protein/fats and you have yourself a wonderful meal best of luck!

alisedchaffins

Gordon Ramsay had a ton of cheap, easy foodie recipes. If you can spend a little money up front on spices, they can help you transform staples like fish or chicken into all kinds of delicious dishes!

peggymenard

I know someone who lived on brown rice with a can of seasoned tomatoes thrown in as it cooked and a salad. He made a big batch on Sunday which lasted him through the week.
He lost weight as well.

lauraloy2013

Chicken, peppers, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes is a winner. Add some basil, garlic and oregano. Serve with pasta. It was one of the main dishes I made at uni. The herbs and spices will never be wasted if she get a few essentials in.

ashliij

https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf can probably help

MLeigh18

Get a crockpot, add 4-5 chicken breasts, water, and seasoning. Let it cook for 6-8 hours and now you have meat for the whole week and you can do lots of things with shredded chicken from salads to enchiladas.

LogicalDaydreamer

Lots of very affordable and tasty recipes on this blog: http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/
They're usually fairly beginner friendly, as well! (I say this as a culinary n00b who has had great success with her stuff! )

I also like browsing this collection: budgetbytes.com

alfiedn

Eggs, roasted veggies, chili, (soups in general), fresh fruit, healthy casseroles. (I make a zucchini enchilada casserole sometimes that's adapted from skinnytaste.com), stir fries, rice and beans... The possibilities of cheap and healthy food are endless! I am largely into simple meals as well and if it's low maintenance, all the better. I've always bought my grains in bulk and it helps to buy dried beans and cook them. I usually boil them all in water and then freeze them in gallon sized bags until I need them, I usually have two or three different kinds in my freezer at a time.

chelsieriggle32814

Wow, thank you all so much! Every response is very helpful! I can't wait to try some of this stuff

Sarahbooradley

Im a graduate student. I gained my freshman fifteen twice, once when I moved to undergrad and another fifteen when I moved to grad school.

Now I'm really focused my diet. I buy bulk boneless skinless chicken breast and freeze individual servings in bags. Through out the week, I defrost and prep it. For me, the simplicity makes up for the lack of variety.
Usually, I stir fry it ( no oil, but in a ceramic fry pan!) With whatever veggies I've got on hand. I've got a lot of spices that I add to it to create variety. Curry, chipolte, carribean jerk, Italian. Spices have helped me break my cheese addition. Before, i used to smoother everything in cheese if i didn't like flavor. But now, spices changed everything.

Often, i put the stir fry over brown rice or lettuce, or cabbage and mung bean sprouts ( so cheap and easy to grow yourself. Seriously. I mostly hate diy but i love the sprouts) sometimes, i use uncle bens rice mixes because they already have great flavors.
The best part is I can easily double the "recipe' and save half for lunch the next day.

A crock pot is also really helpful. Sometimes, I throw chicken and veggies together at night, keep it in the fridge overnight, and put it in the crock pot in the morning so it's ready for me after class 8 hours later.


For quick foods, steel cut oats, Greek yogurts with added frozen fruit, chocolate rice cakes, canned tuna, eggs, and peanut butter have been great for when I'm too tired to cook.


Good luck! Healthy cooking is a journey, not a destination.
Let us know how it goes

Sarahbooradley

Curry chicken made with greek yogurt is one of my favorites. You can google it for the basic recipe. Don't be afraid to add whatever veggies you've got on hand

jangus9416

Soo this has nothing to do with dinner, but I just made breakfast quinoa cups (found on Pinterest) and they were super helpful for when I have early classes or just don't feel like making breakfast. You could eat them for lunch or dinner too if you'd like. You just mix cooked quinoa with eggs, meat, cheese, veggies and pop them into a muffin pan and bake! My boyfriend even enjoyed them!

kitcarson40

Get a crockpot and get on pinterest, there are 100's of easy chicken recipes that are very good.

chelsieriggle32814

Wow, thank you all so much! Every response is very helpful! I can't wait to try some of this stuff

YokiLenko

Avocado Pasta is pretty simple. 1-2 ripe avocados, about 1 tbsp of lime, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, salt + pepper, and wheat pasta. Just cook the pasta, mash up the avocado and mix it with the other ingredients. You can also cook up some chicken for some added protein. Tastes great but the only thing is you can't save it for later meals because the avocado will brown if left out...

Elkroawolfan

Steam your vegetables or if it black cabbage consume it raw (chop it up into small pieces) mixed with some rice and cheese. Cooking kills a lot of the B-vitamins so basically a lot of people do not know they are killing the nutrients in the food so they are killing the key part of a food.

armyconnie

I call it Chicken Surprise. I (no bone or skin)chicken breast or thigh diced up. I cook in pan no oil. I make wheat pasta and get pasta sauce add veggies. Put chicken on plate, cover with fat free cheese slice, pasta on top add sauce.
When you serve and eat the chicken is unexpected! Surprise!!!
All can be done in microwaves too!

sunburntgalaxy

Ok here is one of my favorites - you can adjust it based on your calorie needs. I use the grams when I weigh stuff but I can't remember the conversion on this off the top of my head and in the database it is listed as oz (most packaged foods will give you both)

2 oz pasta - I use Barilla Plus for the added protein
1.5 oz fresh mozzarella (I use the smallest balls so no cutting but you can cut it up to smaller pieces - around the same size as the tomatoes)
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (or if they are really big quartered)
1-2 garlic cloves, through a garlic press or finely chopped
2-3 green onions, chopped (whites and greens)
1/2 oz parmesan cheese - I grate it off the block but you can buy the pre-shredded (but not the green container - it has it's place but this isn't it)
Salt - about a pinch

Cook the pasta as directed and while it is cooking, cut up the tomatoes and combine with the garlic and onions and then mix in the salt - salt will draw out some of the juices. Drain the pasta, add the pasta to the fresh tomatoes then add the fresh mozzarella and the parmesan. Toss all together and voila - pasta with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes. Simple, tasty and healthy.

LaurenAOK

As a law student, this is one of my favorite sites for cheap and easy recipes:
http://www.budgetbytes.com/

As others have said, frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts are great because there's so much you can do with them and they're not heavy on the calories.

One of my all-time favorite cheap foods is lentils. I boil them, then cook some squash, zucchini, and onion in olive oil, and combine it all with a tablespoon of butter. It's low in calories, high in protein, and cheap as heck. Plus delicious.

Homemade salads are also easy, just gotta chop up whatever lettuce/veggies you want, and add in some extras like grilled chicken, sunflower seeds, etc. Olive oil and lemon juice makes a great homemade dressing, and there are also good low-cal yogurt based dressings you can find in the store.

Finally some of my favorite things to make are soups and stews. They're usually really cheap considering how much food you end up getting, and it freezes well for reheating. Plus, soup couldn't be easier - you just chop things and throw it all in a pot.

dklibert

Easy easy recipe. Very fast to prepare. You can keep whole ginger in the freezer and just grate what you need.

Inside Out Egg Roll
soupspiceeverythingnice.blogspot.com/2013/12/inside-out-egg-roll-re-post.html
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 a roll of reduced fat pork or turkey breakfast sausage
1 or 2 garlic cloves, grated
1" piece of ginger, grated
1 bag (16 oz.) Cole slaw mix
Soy sauce (reduced sodium) to taste
1/8 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
Salt, white pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Optional garnishes:
Green onions, sliced
Toasted sesame seeds
Fried Chinese noodles

Directions

Sauté sausage in oil until brown. Add garlic, ginger, and slaw mix; saute until it starts to reduce in size. Add soy sauce, five spice powder, salt and peppers to taste. Sauté a little longer and serve. Garnish with any or all garnishes from above.

dklibert

Another easy recipe. I double it.

Italian Sausage Soup
Cooking Light, JULY 2004

Ingredients

8 ounces hot or sweet turkey Italian sausage
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta
2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Directions

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan, and cook about 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; return to pan.

Add broth, tomatoes, and pasta to pan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pasta is done. Remove from heat; stir in spinach until wilted. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, and 1 1/2 teaspoons basil)

Nutritional Information: Per Serving; Calories 216, Fat 7.1g, Fiber 1.6g.

kristydi

Here are 3 of my favorite soup reipes. It's easy to make a pot of soup and eat from it all week.

Roasted Tomato Soup
5 lbs tomatoes, cored and quartered
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Toss together and roast at @ 450 for 20 min or until very soft.
1 cup diced onion
2 TBSP olive oil
Sauté in large pot till onion is soft
2 cups water
2tsp sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 red pepper flakes
Roasted tomato mixture
Add to pot with onions and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 min then purée.
Finish with
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 TBSP pestopesto

Corn and Poblano Chowder
Saute in 2 TBS unsalted Butter
1 cup white onion
1 TBS minced garlic
Add
2 lb (6 cups) corn kernels
4 cups chicken broth
2 tsp sugar
Pruee
Stir in
2 poblanos roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced (how to roast peppers)
1/2 cup heavy cream
up to 1.5 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cayenne

Black Bean Soup
1 lb dry (or 4 15 oz cans) black beans
4 cups chicken (or veggie) broth
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
simmer till beans are tender (about an hour) if you use canned beans cut simmer time in half.
puree half the beans and broth (remove and discard the bay leaf)
in a skillet sautee in 2 TBSP olive oil
1 cup diced onion
2 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP paprika
11/2 tsp ground cumin
11/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
pinch each salt and sugar
Deglaze with 1 TBSP red wine vinegar
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes and juice.
mash tomatoes slightly then add to pot with beans and broth and simmer 5 min.

Serve with pico de gallo. Also good with a few grilled shrimp thrown on top.

Michelletrk

Bump

misscaligreen

Flat Bread Pizza! It is fast, easy, delicious and the options are awesome!

kellyjellybellyjelly

MLeigh18 wrote: »

Get a crockpot, add 4-5 chicken breasts, water, and seasoning. Let it cook for 6-8 hours and now you have meat for the whole week and you can do lots of things with shredded chicken from salads to enchiladas.

I did that yesterday with chicken thighs in the oven. I'm going to use it for salads & sandwiches.