Stocking a college kitchen fridge?

[java]

Looking for some freezer ideas and must haves for the kitchen. My son will have a kitchen this year with a full size fridge! I remember a while ago seeing a bunch of chicken breast marinade ideas, kind of dump chicken ideas. I won't send him with too much, but thinking some tastes of home.

Do you think chicken cutlets (breaded homemade) freeze well? He is not a lasagna guy.

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Looking for some freezer ideas and must haves for the kitchen. My son will have a kitchen this year with a full size fridge! I remember a while ago seeing a bunch of chicken breast marinade ideas, kind of dump chicken ideas. I won't send him with too much, but thinking some tastes of home.

Do you think chicken cutlets (breaded homemade) freeze well? He is not a lasagna guy.

Thanks for your ideas!

Only as much as he will cook. You'd hate for the food to go to waste. If he likes to cook, ask him how much he wants.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Pretty much anything that is precooked and then put into freezer and microwave proof containers and you'll be golden.

I make up homemade soup, pastas w/ and w/o sauce (precooked pasta...just run under water to thaw), cooked chicken breasts with sauce and flavorings, precooked rice. And then any kind of baked good can be frozen and then thawed.

For my DfosterS19 I have had him mark down his favorites when I cook them (meatloaf...) and then I gave him a couple of easy easy cookbooks with lots of pictures.

Here's hoping they eat more than Subway and Starbucks !!

ETA: Give him the basics shopping list: flour, salt, sugar, pepper, gravy packets, milk, eggs, oil... Then he and the roommates can go shopping together.

 

[patsal]

Are all parents doing this kind of thing for their college kids? I know when I went off it was a "good luck, see ya later" kind of thing with the basics provided, like linens and towels and such, but I was on my own to do and buy everything else including pay for the school and books on my own. I pretty much thought I was being helpful setting up a bit more than I got, but I am not filling the fridge or doing the first shop.

 

[NotUrsula]

Oh, I doubt it. Most folks just send care packages of favorite foods, much the way that they always have. (My college roommate's dad used to bring big bricks of frozen spaghetti sauce for us whenever he came to visit her, and that was 30 years ago.)

Kids now do tend to want more homemade comfort foods in the freezer if they have one; it's a taste of home and it saves them having to invest in food.

However, IME, the average college kid's fridge contains ketchup, mayonnaise, milk, juice, soft drinks, beer, and maybe eggs. Not much real food except leftover pizza or salad.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

This is an excellent time for him to learn how to cook. I would take him with you to get basic pantry items, like spices, flour, sugar, etc. I would also get him a simple cookbook. In addition, I'm making my college-aged DD a "Mom's cookbook" with a bunch of my recipes for favorites, so she knows how I make chicken noodle soup, chili etc.

Honestly, I can see as a mom, you want to make sure he eats reasonably healthy, and there's nothing wrong with sending a couple "baked with love" items for his freezer. But this is a good time for him to develop some skills. Learning to make a batch of chili, or cook spaghetti and meatballs or whatever, will serve him his whole life.

 

[powellrj]

I would just ask him what he likes. My DS had a fridge in the last few places and I would take him to the store every time I went to see him and we would load him up on things that he liked. He did do easy cooking and like to make a big pot of something and eat it all week. He liked chili, jambalaya, red beans and rice, that kind of thing. He never liked chicken, but loved different types of sausages so I would get him things like that. He also had a rice cooker and a crock pot!

 

[dpswift]

I send chunks of hamburger(for patties, and hamburger helper), He picked up shaved steaks, and frozen pizza. I also give him dry pasta, pasta sauceand some heat and eat meals. I stock him up on cereal and other pantry items. I do not fill the freezer because he shares his apartment with 3 others.


I also send him with plenty of soap, shampoo, toilet paper and paper towels.

I feel that it is still way cheaper than a meal plan.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Are all parents doing this kind of thing for their college kids? I know when I went off it was a "good luck, see ya later" kind of thing with the basics provided, like linens and towels and such, but I was on my own to do and buy everything else including pay for the school and books on my own. I pretty much thought I was being helpful setting up a bit more than I got, but I am not filling the fridge or doing the first shop.

I think I will leave water bottles and some snack items from the Dollar Tree. DS has a new Tassimo coffee pot, microwave, 21 meal dining plan and $150 monthly for the on campus cafe(it's part of the dining plan). Waiting to find out if the roomate has a fridge already (they finally got a hold of each other today).

DfosterS is living in an apartment by himself and going through the premed/nursing course. So I did cook up some meals and they are individually wrapped. I will let him decide what he takes (if any). If he empties my freezer, it's fine. If not, we have lunches for all of us or they will go in DH cooler (he's a trucker).

I don't think it's necessary to fill the fridge, but I can understand wanting to take the kids to the store one last time to ensure they have what we can give them before we drive away.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

I feel that it is still way cheaper than a meal plan.

I was just wondering how much the meal plan is costing other folks. Ours is $3700 for the year, but he receives the cafe cash of $150 per month. 21 meals per week. and there are only 2 places to get food on campus--dining hall & cafe.

If he had a full kitchen like his brother, I would not be doing the dining plan. But this boy can eat.

 

[ah1126]

I would make some quick grab stuff. Burritos, English Muffins with egg, cheese, bacon, breakfast burritos, anything heat and eat!

 

[GraysMom]

I was going to suggest a crockpot with disposable liners so he can just dump ingredients in, turn it on (and plug it in!) and dinner will be ready when he gets home. I think you can still buy frozen crockpot meals that just get dumped and turned on. Things like pulled pork (made in the crockpot) can be frozen in individual portions for later use. Pinterest also has lots of good crockpot recipes. You could always find ones you thing he would like, pin them, and he can look on your crockpot recipes board when he has a chance.

Rotisserie chickens from the grocery store (or Sam's Club) can be a cheaper, healthy alternative too.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When our son moves into a new apartment at school, we take him and his roommates to the store to fill the kitchen. It's a nice contribution and they get a few things that they probably wouldn't buy themselves. Plus we get to spend a little extra time with all the kids.

 

[lauradis]

beer (hehe). I would just take him shopping and let him choose what he wants for food.

 

[lauradis]

Are all parents doing this kind of thing for their college kids? I know when I went off it was a "good luck, see ya later" kind of thing with the basics provided, like linens and towels and such, but I was on my own to do and buy everything else including pay for the school and books on my own. I pretty much thought I was being helpful setting up a bit more than I got, but I am not filling the fridge or doing the first shop.

Yes lots of parents do this now. My parents helped as much as they could.

I got the "good luck, see ya later" treatment too.

 

[Tigerlily952]

My son was an hour away at college last year in an apt with a room-mate, whenever I (or the students other parents) made a trip down I would bring groceries. The budgets and the time for the kids were scarce so grocery delivery was welcome. I also bought the boys a crock pot and always left it with dinner cooking. I did not freeze meals but I took some toss in the oven and bake foods and some things they cook prepare from scratch. My son became a decent cook as a result. Anything you can do to make a college students life easier is welcome.

 

[ldo]

I got the good luck. I remember not really knowing how to cook anything except cookies and never cooking anything of substance when I had an apt. I would ask for my mom's chili when she came--then once she told me how easy it was to make in a crock pot--I had no idea.
So, in addition to sending a few frozen things, I would encourage the crock pot for your son. I would make all of these listed below at home before he goes off to college, and show your son how to make it, make an extra batch while you are cooking to freeze and take to school (so they guys can see how good they taste--and be motivated to make them again) and also then stock the ingredients for a few simple recipes. Here are some easy ones:
Sweet and sour meatballs (chili sauce, grape jelly)--we buy costo meatballs.
Boneless ribs with garlic, ginger (powdered is ok) and terriaki (sp?) sauce-serve with rice--send the rice, so they have it.
Chili--you can send frozen 90% meat with chili packet, can of tomatoes, can of beans, can of corn. I cook frozen meat in the crockpot on high for 1 hour, chop it up and dump everything in and cook on high for 2 hours, then additional time on low. They can also add spaghetti to it to stretch it out.
And, of course, spaghetti sauce.

 

[shortbun]

Before you send him off with stuff he's unused to cooking, have him cook them at least once at home. If he's unclear, the food will sit there and he'll be eating out. I've got my son making dinner around here twice a week.

 

[disykat]

I really did not send any food with my son, but we did give him a "kitchen in a box" (we shopped at IKEA for a bunch of stuff we knew he'd need and filled a storage container to make moving easy) for Christmas last year knowing he'd be in an apartment starting in June. Knowing he wouldn't be using much in the way of spices, but would need some things, I gave him some of my half empty bottles and bought myself new stuff.


When he comes home, I tend to grill meat and send home extra with him, sliced up and ready to serve. That way he can make salad or macaroni and cheese and have an easy protein with it.