Simple, beginner meals

[Immadismom]

This weekend DD has been home from college. She’s a sophomore, and is living in an on-campus apartment with three other girls. All of the other girls have cooked a couple of dinners so far. DD has not, as she really doesn’t know how to cook, other than maybe Mac & cheese or grilled cheese. The other girls have made baked ziti, beef stroganoff, meatloaf, baked chicken. DD said that of one of them cooks, she’ll contribute and buy groceries, but feels she should also take a turn cooking occasionally.

We’ve managed to land on a chicken & rice bake I make occasionally that is very simple. I’ve gotten all of the ingredients for her to take back to school, given a few written instructions and I’m sure she’ll FaceTime me when making it to make sure it is out together properly.

What are some other simple, basic, beginner recipes I can help her put together so she can contribute to the weekly cooking? She’s already said she’ll do spaghetti one night, she can handle boiling noodles & opening a jar of sauce. But they can only eat so much spaghetti in a semester!

 

[CdnCarrie]

Tacos
Homemade hamburgers

 

[Immadismom]

Tacos
Homemade hamburgers

Why did I not think of tacos?! That’s one of her favorite meals! Thank you!

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Tacos, beans and rice, French bread pizzas.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Homemade pizza. You can buy premade crusts or naan bread.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

There are a lot of ideas for quick, simple meals on Instagram Reels.

One that’s super easy and my family loves is Spaghetti Aglio e Olio. There are a lot of different ways to make it, but this is how I do it.

Cook 1lb of pasta in boiling water
In skillet, sauté some crushed garlic (can use already crushed in jar) in olive oil and a little butter on low heat for 2 mins, then add some crushed red pepper and sauté for another minute. Add one cup of the pasta water to the mixture and cook for ten more minutes uncovered. When done, add the pasta and mix, with some parsley (fresh is good but dried is ok, too), parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper, then enjoy.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Baked potatoes with toppings. We usually either have bacon bits (the kind in the bag not the jar) & shredded cheese or broccoli & melted cheese. If she's in a hurry, heated broccoli & cheddar soup will work. They could add butter, salt & pepper to their preference. She could also make a salad to go with the potato.

 

[tvguy]

Wow, both my kids nearly broke us with their away at College cooking habits. My son was a big fan of Alton Brown and called me from the grocery store once asking if I knew that vanilla beans are $12 for 4. I pointed out that vanilla extract is much cheaper to which he replied "Alton Brown would never approve of vanilla extract."
Our daughter went to school for a year in the U.K. and she and another girl from our area decided to fix their friends from the U.K., Germany and Japan a tradition Thanksgiving dinner. I spent $100 just in shipping to get some of the supplies to her.
All the time my wife and I are home eating ramen!

 

[Mysterian]

Tacos

 

[disykat]

There are other "jars of sauce" that make good really easy meal but are slightly different than the norm. I like to get a jar of tikka masala type sauce from the grocery store and cook a couple of pieces of boneless skinless chicken (breast or thighs work, but thighs are much cheaper) in it for maybe an hour on the stove on a fairly low heat. (If she doesn't have long to cook it she could sauté the chicken a bit then add the sauce to simmer just to heat through while she cooks some rice.) Serve it over rice with some fresh veggies or a salad. If we have leftovers, I pour in a box of chicken broth, the leftover rice and sometimes add a can of cannelloni beans for soup the next night. (Sometimes I freeze leftovers for this purpose. She could save it for her next turn to cook and make up soup and serve it with warm storebought sourdough bread with lots of butter. Trust me, no one would complain.)

A trip down the specialty food aisle of a grocery store could yield some interesting sauce options that could all function the same way and she'd just have to look for the ones on sale. I like to pick some up on sale to have for a quick dinner when I need something easy.

 

[tvguy]

Some good recipes here.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/top-10-...5DxSn0P3FiREMbep6-gU5X85qmh3XfKwaAjTSEALw_wcB

 

[QueenIsabella]

As it happens, my DH has to cook on Wednesdays this year. He does okay on the grill, but doesn't have the experience to just throw together a meal. Some of the suggestions I gave him are:

Tacos (f course! A crowd pleaser, and easy!)
Pasta with meatballs or a meat sauce (I put vegetables in the sauce, and typically make it in the afternoon, and let it simmer. Way easier than it tastes!)
Breakfast for dinner
Chili
Aldi's has the "red bag chicken", which makes great sandwiches. Get their brioche rolls, serve with a salad, maybe fries.
Aldi's also has parmesan crusted chicken (right next to the red bag chicken). Cook according to bag directions, then spoon on a little jarred sauce, sprinkle on shredded mozzarella, back in the oven for 5 minutes. Serve with pasta--great, fake chicken parmesan!

My DD19 is also a sophomore, living in an apartment, but she has a meal plan for back-up. I stocked her up with frozen ground turkey (she won't eat beef or pork) and the Aldi's items I mentioned. Also, Aldi's has cheese ravioli and some other entree-type things she likes. Another good one is Stouffer's lasagnas and mac and cheese, but be aware, these have long cooking times for the big sizes. But, I wanted my DD to have stuff in her freezer--she has anxiety and can have trouble eating some foods (she loses weight when her anxiety is at its worst. She's already pretty skinny.). So, my goal is less about healthy--she eats pretty healthy, anyway--and more about having things that are appealing to her.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Some good recipes here.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/top-10-...5DxSn0P3FiREMbep6-gU5X85qmh3XfKwaAjTSEALw_wcB

A lot of those recipes look great! However, many of them look to have a lot of starch (pasta, rice, etc.) Might want to go easy on that to minimize possible weight gain... Maybe try substituting veggies for half the pasta!

 

[tvguy]

A lot of those recipes look great! However, many of them look to have a lot of starch (pasta, rice, etc.) Might want to go easy on that to minimize possible weight gain... Maybe try substituting veggies for half the pasta!

Yup. Noodles made from zucchini come to mind as a substitute. And ricefied cauliflower.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

Tik Tok pasta:

Box of pasta ( I use bow ties or penne)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Block of Feta cheese
Garlic ( I use about 2 cloves)
pinch of salt
Cherry or Grape Tomatoes (I use about 3-4 pints)

Heat oven to 400
In Glass/ceramic baking dish ( I use 9x11) place feta cheese in center. Place tomatoes around the cheese and garlic and drizzle olive oil all over. Cook for 30 minutes at 400 and then increase to 450 for another 15-20 minutes until tomatoes start to char a little on top.
Cut pasta according to directions.
Remove dish from oven, be careful very hot, and add drained pasta and stir. Reserve some of the pasta water if you want to thin it out.

There are a lot of videos o YouTube for this. It's the easiest recipe I make, My daughter's favorite.

 

[mousefan73]

Toss cooked penne or rotini noodles in a pan of sauteed veggies + protein, chicken pieces or italien sausage.. All you need is olive oil, some cheese or cream.. buy italien spices.. or balsamic creme for a kick.. super easy.. I sautee onions, garlic, green red peppers and a a jar of mushrooms... I usually add grated chunks of parmesan... If not saucy enough buy a jar.. but I just play with spices, oil, cream cheese.. no recipe.

 

[mousefan73]

or penne tossed with a cream sauce ( can make own or buy) and spinach.. add chicken or if you got the money great with steamed salmon or shrimps...

 

[TCRAIG]

Chicken taco recipe - 4 chicken breast halves, 1 package of chicken taco mix, 1 jar salsa - all goes into the crock pot -
Also bake Betty Crocker scalloped or cheesy potatoes from the box (or 2) and add cut up pieces of ham - serve like a casserole.

 

[mousefan73]

also easy is banquette melts and a side salad.. Just put turkey breast and some cheese and melt in the oven on an open baquette.. Basically fancy, baked sub sandwiches.. side salad makes it more a meal

 

[Christine]

When my kids were in school, they were big on some of the one-pot recipes from the Tasty site.

This one was particularly good (pasta of course) and does require some chopping though.

https://tasty.co/recipe/one-pot-cajun-pasta