So, this year, I decided to cook occassionally to save some money. Does anyone have any good recipes that a novice cook can make? I really only have access to Western ingredients around here. Any good ideas for mixing east and west? Something that scales nicely to feed about 4 or 5 would do. =]
Seriously...pasta is the most easy to make and you can make hundreds of variations of it. Example: - cook pasta - warm up a jar of pasta sauce (Bolognese, Formaggio, Carbonara etcetc) - bake some meat and vegetables of your choice - add the sauce to the pasta - add the meat/vegetables + sauce to the pasta - add Italian herbs like basil if you want and or maybe some Parmezan cheese My fav and most simple pasta recipe: - Cook the pasta - add black olives, a can of tuna and cherry tomatoes - sprinkle extra virgin olive oil and some basil on top et volia! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- edit: Or what about a noodle soup? Even in western supermarkets you can buy noodles nowadays... Make a soup with whatever bouillon you want, add the veggies you like, eventually pieces of cooked meat, herbs and for the extra 'bite' you can add the noodles. Or mashed potatoes? Just cook a bunch of potatoes, add some water/milk, bitesize sausages , salt 'n pepper or even mustard if you're adventurous and mash all these ingriedients together. Can't hardly fail with this recipe.
WIll only work if you have a rice cooker: Put rice to cook. Midway after rice cooks, add meat (slice or diced chicken, beef, pork) and mushroom (if possible chinese dry ones). (Best ingredients would be chinese wax sausage and/ or duck) Once done, add a bit of soya sauce and you got yourself a hassle free meal.
yeah, tea with half and half and sugar and instant ramen with a fried egg and a sausage...best fusion mix of east and west around
rofl... you guys are naming exactly what i've been eating while in college haha.... try going for the pasta idea, or learn to do fried rice, tons of recipes online and u can make it in large quanties and save for later. and what ever they tell u.... put spam in it maybe also u can do canned foods, if u can make rice (go buy a cheap rice cooker somewhere) make some and pour some canned clam chowder over it (heat the chowder first). Or just dump rice (fridged rice is fine... in fact recommended since it heats it up and stuff too) in the pot ur using to heat the chowder. i'm assuming u eat out alot?
Make stews and/or curry if you don't have to pay the electric bill? There are pre-packaged spices available in supermarkets, you just have to dump in diced beef (or other meat) and diced vegetable, sit back and let it cook over low heat, and serve on rice -^_^ Better yet, invest in a slow cooker and you are set for your college life.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. So far, i've just been stir-frying veggies and meat together. Your suggestions would probably save me a lot of time. =D
Microwave is man's best friend. With trials and errors, you can come up with a lot of good dishes and soup.
EWWWW. I never "cook" with my microwave, I only reheat my prepared food (like stew and/or curry etc) with it... And microwave dinner is EVIL!
^ I didnt say microwave dinner as in frozen meals You can make nice soup, cook rice, create a perfect egg for mcmuffin and many other dishes with it. -chef My grandpa does it all the time and the food he cooks are simple and delectable.
Hmmmm, I believe the myth that microwaved food carry radiation which can cause cancer if taken in sufficiently large amount accumulatively. So I prefer cooking like actual cooking, with a stove (or a slow cooker -tongue2)
^ Point there, but then again, cant worry too much. Anything can cause cancer these days. You know what, you can come cook me meals then. -clapclap
In your dreams... I never cook when I visit your town, it's a gastronomic experience every time I visit there... Plateau, Outremont, Westmount, St. Laurent, Anjou, Ste-Anne-de-Belleville, Pointe-Claire, even Champlain on the South Shore...
Eggs are a good start...they taste good in any way. Fry, boil, steam. You can be creative and start making your own omelettes = )
True, theres so many ways with eggs. Omelette with cubed peppers, cilantro, sliced chicked and onion. Nice and simple.
Porridge with seafood and meat. Boil water Add uncooked rice or left over rice from previous nite when water boiled (degree of thickness depends on how much rice you put) Stir for a while as to prevent rice from sticking to pot Leave it to boil slowly with lids closed for about 40 min Add meat you want at the end Once meat is cooked, there, you can eat You can also add sliced lettuce and green onion in your bowl when you pour the porridge