*urban 75 student cook book.

[farmerbarleymow]

Cous cous is a good stanby too - a piece of piss to make, with boiling water, salt and some olive oil. Shove in some oven roast veg done in olive oil and it is a nice easy meal, and you can make a big batch and shove it in the fridge.

 

[nanoespresso]

about the easiest/cheapest/fastest/healthiest dinner you can do:

refried bean burritos.

1) open can of beans, microwave ( add cooked rice if desired )
2) chop up tomato, lettuce
3) grate cheese
4) heat burrito shell in pan
5) put stuff in shell, add hot sauce, wrap
6) eat.

oh yeah.. class Mrs M.... class.

 

[Miss Caphat]

yeah, or fajitas.......quick, but not so healthy....anyway, just throw a tortilla in a frying pan with oil, throw some cheese, grilled chicken, steak, veggies, whatever,......and cook until the cheese melts and fold it in half...slice and serve with salsa , guacamole, sour cream or yogurt, rice&beans....
also, for burritos, canned black beans are nice.


another good&easy thing is roasted root vegetables in olive oil......

or any kind of roasted veggies with pasta

or pasta salads...nice because they'll keep in the fridge for a few days, and you can throw a bunch of ingredients in there....but all you need is pasta and either oil&vinegar, or mayo and vinegar (any kind), or salad dressing.....add to pasta cooked and rinsed in cold water, add chopped veggies, and voila

 

[MrSki]

Originally posted by Lord Camomile
I'm thinking of keeping some kind of cool box or something in my room to reduce the need for freezer space, but I'm not sure how practical that'd be...

(though while my family was away I got four burgers, chicken dippers, four spicy meat things, alphabites and four Magnum bar thingys all for a fiver)

Are you a secret shopper?

Do you drink lemonade?

Cool box is okay as long as you remember to keep changing the frozen things. They do what they say on the tin and keep things cool, not frozen.

I expect you will forget to change them. I don't think it will be top of your list of things to do.

The cheapest way is to get by is to get together with your mates and cook a large chilli or spag bol. If you only have to cook one night a week you can splash out & your learning to cook.

TV dinners are all very well but for the price of 2 you could make a chillie that would feed 8.

If you buy some cheap wine or something then eating can be part of your socalising & if you don't end up down the pub till 10 o'clock you could actually be saving money.

Think of all the people you can invite round for dinner.

 

[Fledgling]

Originally posted by farmerbarleymow
Sticks and shoelaces - sheer luxury!

We used to dream of sticks and shoelaces...

My parents only had old bits of string.


This recipe is surefire: Can of chopped tomatoes, garlic, tinned tuna, veg stock cube, basil, oregano, pepper, onions, garlic and tomato puree. Fry onions and garlic firs then put everything else in, ecellent sauce for pasta.

Someone I knew made tuna curry, the mind wonders.

Used to invent things too, like my onion and stock cube soup.

 

[Funky_monks]

If you are a student, prey tell what is a paragraph?

Pragraph shmaragraph......

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

Originally posted by Epico

9p noodles are evil.

au contraire!!! this was the staple of my college diet. throw in half a tin of chick peas and any random vegetables you have, and stir in an egg when all the water has been absorbed... put into a sandwich if extra hungry... mmm a full belly for about 50p

 

[Ms T]

Try that Italian staple - spaghetti olio i aglio i peperoncini. Or, rather less flashly, spag with oil, garlic and chili. It's dead easy, cheap - and addictive.

All you do is saute some garlic and crushed, dried chili in a good slug of olive oil. Add to drained spaghetti/linguine. Delish. Dried chilis are brilliant and an essential part of my diet. I bought a packet about five years ago and it's still going strong as you only need to use one at a time. Unless of course, you like your food really, really hot!

If you're feeling flush, add a tin of white crab meat towards the end. No parmesan though.

Mr T says this is his favourite dish. He's a cheap date.

 

[J77]

Best and easiest pasta

*******************

Fry chopped onion, sliced bacon, diced red pepper, diced courgette and finely chopped garlic/basil, s&p in that order.

Boil up some rigatone (pasta).

Add a tub of creme fraiche and a good helping of parmasan to the chopped mix.

Add pasta and stir through.

******************

Or learn to cook a fine bolognese or chilli.

Cooking's a piece of piss and fun, don't live off super noodles

 

[LilMissHissyFit]

Pasta with pesto and cheese is a good un and extremely cheap.

I agree shop in lidl or somewhere equally cheap, Lidls curry sauces are incredible, almost as good as sharwoods etc.

learn to make spag bol, toasted sarnies and a million uses for mince.
Instant noodles are nice too with bread if you are really skint, or if you arent quite as skint you can add some veggies as make a stir fry

 

[sarcastic food]

I owe you for all that techy help you always give me, so if ever i'm up that way I'll make a food parcel and bring it along. Maybe I'll bring those 'girls' too. Now if you study hard kained and unable it may be sooner then you think.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Just realised: what utensils should people take to uni?

I've seen taking a wok suggested as it's apparently very versatile but when I mentioned this to my mum she was doubtful because I've never used a wok before and she thinks it's inadvisable to have me on my own at uni with stuff I've never used before.

I guess I see her point.

 

[feyr]

my kitchen is equipped with toaster,kettle,microwave,set of 5 assorted saucepans, 3 forks, 8 knifes, 1 teaspoon, 8 normal spoons (despite starting off with a full set of 8 of everything) some bowls,plates and 3 mugs, a wok, a very old frying pan, baking tray, drainer, fish slice, 2 sharp knives, bread knife and a pizza cutter. these have been collected over the past 5 years of shared house living . when my now-housemate moved in to halls in her 1st year she was telling me the had 8 toasters, 8 kettles,8 sets of pans, 8 sets of crockery etc. there will be shops at uni, so dont worry about taking it all with you

 

[Elpenor]

I would definitely take a wok, its a piece of piss to use.

Put oil in, heat it, put food in!

I bought one for £3 in poundstretcher two years ago and its still going strong despite frequent use. So if I had fucked it up, it wouldn't have mattered too much.

I also have a frying pan, a couple of saucepans and a griddle pan.

These have been donated by family, or bought at a supermarket, hint go for the value range. Car boot sales are a great place to get cheap pans and baking trays.

George Foreman grilling machines are quite good, so if you must buy an expensive thingy get one of them, as you can do most things in them.

Make sure you bring a wooden spoon, spatula and can opener as a minimum, as well as a few plates/bowls/mugs/cutlery and many pint glasses. Don't bring a matching set of stuff, you'll look like a nob and probably lose half of it. I'd also bring a paring knife, kitchen knife, veg peeler, corkscrew and a bottle opener.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Originally posted by feyr
my kitchen is equipped with...... 3 forks, 8 knifes, 1 teaspoon, 8 normal spoons (despite starting off with a full set of 8 of everything)

How odd that the forks and teaspoons dissapeared yet the knives and spoons stayed around. Must be all the noodles and cups of tea!

Though I thought cereal was a big student thing, it certainly will be when I go

 

[swelegant]

Risotto is very cheap to make.

You need one diced onion, 1 cup of aborio rice, some grated cheese, 4 litres of stock and a tablespoon of buter/marg. Heat up the stock, and start frying the onion in another pot. When the onion is semi cooked, tip in the rice and stir still it crackles slightly, then add stock several cups at a time until absorbed. Then stir in the butter/marg and a bit of cheese and that's it. It makes for 3-4 servings depending on how hungry you are. And you can add whatever meat and vegetables you have in your pantry and fridge too.

 

[pixie-iso]

mmm....food.
my favourite because its classy is indian tomato soup
boil some red lentils (lentils brown rice etc are much better cause they fill you up for longer and theyre good for you and they have more flavour so eat em.)
then fry some onions and any other veg (peppers, carrots cabbage etc) when fried add a tin or two of chopped toms and cook then add the lentils and some curry powder stock and water. its boss
for extra niceness you can add fresh coriander and sour cream

being a culinary queen i used to only eat crappy studenty food when i was at home not studying for my a-levels this was my favourite:
rice tomato tuna dish (hmm..ill have to think of a better name for that.)
fry onions add brown rice plus whatever (sweetcorn mushrooms peppers etc) then add tinned toms and tuna. you can also put in cheese or pesto for more better ness.

and we made this in halls it was ferckin luuuushh
potato bake
bottom layer tinneds toms fried onions various veg maybe pulses too
top layer masshed potato with cheese on top
cook in oven. gorgeous.

fried chickpeas with garlic is nice, you can add this to a tomato sauce or to lettuce.

tinned tomatoes are the best. lidl is also king, buy alcohol from there to it rocks the wallet. dont go to iceland cause the food there is so nice youll have eaten all your purchases (aka ice creams crisp pizza etc) by the end of the day anyway thus saving no money. my ex is digging out food from bins at the mo, this is a well cheap way of getting food, my dad used to do this in the olden days too.

also if you mix flour with a bit of oil and some warm water, knead roll out into circles and leave for ten mins. fry for 30 secs. its tortillas!!!
woohoo, you can make loads and freeze them, or use them to make pizzas or even better get two and put melted cheese peppers spring onions etc in between and dry fry until the cheese as melted...mm im so making that when i get home.

 

[Orang Utan]

Originally posted by Lord Camomile
What....? But how did you live like that??

By reading and listening to music a lot. You should try it. It's fun.

 

[Xantrix]

Heat water till boiling, add 3 handfulls of pasta (2 if you've got big hands 4 if small) from ecconomy fuck off hugs bag of pasta. Simmer till pasta is eddible. Heat ecconomy chopped tomatoes till hot and mix in some mixed herbs. Drain pasta and put in bowl the cover in tomatoe 'erb gunk. If your feeling rich sprinkle grated cheese over the top

 

[ats]

I'd recommend buying an omelette pan. (A small non-stick frying pan.)

An omelette is one of the easiest things in the world to cook. Beat some eggs together. Heat the pan up HOT, then whack in the eggs, cook them on a high heat, stirring them around, bung in a filling if you want one (you don't need it) and serve while the inside is still a little runny.

Eat with some nice bread, or maybe some boiled spuds.

Elizabeth David once called a book of collected journalism 'An Omelette and a Glass of Wine'. She knew what she was on about.

Learn to cook a decent omelette and you will have something that will last you for life, unlike most student recipes.

(Next installment: scrambled eggs.)

 

[Isambard]

Omlettes

Beat the fuck out the eggs to make it really fluffy.

Use omlette to get rid of any old odds and ends lying in the kitchen. One small rasher, half a tomato, some old onion rings, reminas of yesterday's veg etc etc it all goes in! Fry the bits off first and then pour the eggs on top.

If you make a thick one, brown the top under the grill and serve in slices.


Oh yeah and eat green salad with it!

 

[ViolentPanda]

Shit on a Shingle

take some hot mashed potato (about 2 spuds worth) mix with half a small tin of corned beef with generous splashings of worcestershire sauce or tabasco and spread on hot toast.

 

[tom k&e]

Originally posted by Lord Camomile
Just realised: what utensils should people take to uni?

3 10 inch chefs knives, about 20 more assorted cooking knives, about 15 sets of cutlery, 20 plates, 10 bowls, 40 pint glasses, 3 jugs, 10 items of tupperware, 3 kettles, a microwave, a toaster, 3 ovens, a deep fat frier, a mandalin, 2 garlic rushers, 3 cheese graters etc etc etc.....

That's what comes of having 5 people in one house. Cooking heaven

I'd sugest looking at My recipe page on. I've put some of mine up there.

Had beef stew today, chicken escalopes yesterday, have a constant supply of burgers. I my food too much

 

[Callie]

*ahem* you do not take pint glasses to uni...you accumulate them whilst at uni

 

[Elpenor]

Originally posted by Callie
*ahem* you do not take pint glasses to uni...you accumulate them whilst at uni

Good point, my house managed 60 in 3 years. And in the final year we adopted a branded-glasses only policy

 

[Roadkill]

Well, here's what I made earlier:

1/2 small onion
a few mange tout peas
some baby carrots
some baby sweetcorn
some green beens
a bit of broccoli
1/2 tin of tomatoes
curry powder
lemon juice
wine vinegar
garlic powder ('cos I'm too lazy for fresh garlic )
some mixed herbs
salt and pepper

Soften the veggies a bit in a pan, add the tomatoes and everything else and then cook it on a low-ish heat for about 10 minutes - or as long as it took the rice i had it with to cook. Even though it was just odds and ends thrown together, it was delicious. Best dinner I've made in a while.

 

[JoMo1953]

In my day at school, long before most of you were even born we did not have luxuries of microwave, toaster ovens, etc.

Grilled cheese sandwiches - grilled with an iron of course

cans of soup heated on a hot plate, the one pan you brought usually lasted only a few weeks and ended up blackened beyond recognition so you heat the can right on the hot plate, but make it quick, usually blew a fuse in the process. Pair of pliers served as the "Pot holder" of hot tins

When in doubt pizza delivery and Chinese take-out always works.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Get yourself some essentials...try to always have these in your kitchen and you can rustle up something tasty.
Veg stock cubes (always less synthetic tasting than beef or chicken stock cubes)
Soy sauce
Onions
Pasta
Rice
Red lentils
Black pepper
sea salt
Olive oil if you can afford it
sunflower oil or similar for cooking
you can never have enough garlic in my opinion, but I realise that students go in for snogging if presented with the opportunity......Tip: if both the snoggers have been at the garlic, neither will notice........
Some herbs...chives and parsley are good uns..spices, eg dried chillies, tumeric.... Tip..always buy dried herbs and spices from hippy wholefood shops or asian supermarkets....nearly always much much cheaper than from anywhere else.
If you can afford it, buy butter.... a bit of butter can turn a boring beige bean stew into something more palatable if you don't want spicy.


Amazing pasta dish...cheap but totally delicious....
Pasta.
one clove of garlic per person
Olive oil or butter or (bleaaargh...only if needs must) margarine
Black pepper
parsley or chives

Boil the pasta, drain it, stir in oil or butter and finely crushed garlic. put in bowl, sprinkle a bit of dried parsley or chives to garnish...a bit of black pepper.........YUM


Onions, fried, provide a tasty base for all sorts of stuff.......fry onions, add some curry spices, add lentils, water and a veg stock cube..........YUM

Do the same as above, but with less lentils and loads of veg...YUM


See...cheaper than chips even, and good wholesome food........

 

[toggle]

Chicken soup:

get some of those cheep bits of chicken on the bone and chuch them in a big pan with loads of water.

Cook for about half an hour and then fish out the chicken.

Put in whatever veg you have : cabbage, carrot, onion, peppers, potato, celery are all very good. What ever youi've got to use up generally works. Add some rice, pasta or noodles if you don't have potato.

Pull the chicken off the bones and chuck that in as well.

Add a bit of salt and pepper.

 

[tom k&e]

Originally posted by Callie
*ahem* you do not take pint glasses to uni...you accumulate them whilst at uni

Very true. One night we went to our union bar with the sole intention of nicking pint glasses for the house. We got utterly pissed, put about 60 in our bags (between 4), of which about 40 made it home. One of the bags got intentionaly thrown accross a room, which made something of a mess

The really anoying thing about pint pots, is that the nice ones always get broken. The branded ones (stella, fosters, london pride, bass etc) are far too delicate, which is a pity cos they're cool.