Dinner on a Dime

By the end of the day, most students are exhausted and in need of a tasty, easy meal. I know from experience that homework can make it challenging to cook a highly involved meal on weeknights. I also know that choosing whether to eat a Hot Pocket or a can of soup for dinner every night gets old really fast. Believe it or not, it’s actually easy to make a hearty meal with a tight budget and a backpack full of homework.
Most of the recipes I use make about four servings of food. If you just cook for yourself, you’ll probably end up with some leftovers. I would suggest inviting friends or roommates to eat with you, and then make them do the dishes. That’s a fair trade, right? They get food, and you don’t have to clean the kitchen (which is definitely the worst part of the cooking/eating process).
So before I start making you salivate, let me briefly go over some safety issues you should be aware of in the kitchen. (If you are a vegetarian, you can just skip this paragraph.) When you are handling raw meat, you need to be very careful. Make sure you use a plastic cutting board if you need to chop it, and wash your hands with soap before you touch anything else. Cook meat to at least 160 degrees to get rid of any harmful bacteria. Also, please be careful with sharp knives, and make sure your fingers are in the clear when you’re chopping. Telling someone your giant scar is from a cooking accident could be pretty embarrassing.
Now that you know how to safely handle meat, let’s get back to dinner ideas. (Vegetarians, you can tune in now.) One of my favorite things to cook for dinner is stir-fry. It is easy to make, and you can use whatever ingredients you want. Most vegetables taste great stir-fried, making it easy to cook something you will like. Chicken, beef, and tofu are all great in it as well. Cooking it basically just requires you to throw the ingredients in a frying pan (or wok) with oil and let them hang out for a while. If you like more structure, here are a bunch of stir-fry recipes.
If you eat meat, there are several easy recipes you can make with ground beef. (If you aren’t a fan of cows, you can substitute most of these with ground turkey.) Tacos are really easy and cheap. They’re great with ground beef, but you can also use chicken or beans instead. If you want to impress a date, meatloaf is an easy meal you can make with ground beef. Your date won’t have a clue the dish practically made itself.
I realize that macaroni and cheese is a comfort food, and many college students have become completely addicted to it. If you are dying to have some, try making it from scratch instead of a box. It’s healthier, cheaper, and can fill more bellies. I bet you can do a better job than Kraft can, anyway. If you’re feeling fancy, try adding some vegetables or ham to your creation.
I could keep listing dinner recipes all day, but who wants to keep reading when you could be eating. So instead, I will send you on your way with links to several websites with easy dinner ideas. Thanks to the internet, not owning a cookbook is no longer a legitimate excuse for eating dinner out of a box.