My freshman year was spent despising the dining hall. Campus food sucks for most, but for someone who seldom ate out as a kid and had been taught to cook from a young age, campus food was particularly miserable. When I moved into an apartment sophomore year, I had one thing on my mind: I have a kitchen. I have experimented with food my whole life and consider myself a decent cook.
Here is the problem: College students are monetarily challenged. The folks at the dining hall weren't pulling off five-star meals, but they were producing paid-for meals.
Here are a few warm recipes I have dumbed down for the college schedule and cheapened up for the college budget.
1) America's Cheapest Red Chili
Disclaimer: The only time you should tell your mother you are making chili this way is if you failed a class, and need worse news to soften the blow. Basically tastes the same, just a lot cheaper to make.
What you need:
1) 4 cans of store-brand chili beans in sauce - $3.16
2) 1 can of store-brand petite diced tomatoes - 79 cents
3) 1 pound of cheap ground beef - $2.99 (If you are cooking it today, look for reduced-price meat due to an upcoming expiration date.)
4) 1 tbsp Louisiana or Texas Pete Hot Sauce (the only place brand matters here) - pennies
5) 1 tbsp Sriracha - pennies
6) Garlic powder to taste
7) Chili powder to taste (you'll need at least half a tablespoon)
8) 1 small white onion (if you want to spend an extra buck)
9) 1 can Rotel
What you do:
Go ahead and dice the onion. If tears are not your thing, watch Britain's sweetheart chef demonstrate below. Life-altering.
Open your cans, and dump the bean cans in the pot with their sauce. Strain the tomatoes, and toss them in there, too. Sling half that onion in the pot along with your hot sauce, Sriracha (a tablespoon is what I use, but this is without a doubt a "to taste" ingredient), Rotel, and spices. Mix it all up, put it on medium-high heat, cover it up, and let it chill.
Brown your ground beef in a large pan under high heat. After about a minute, toss the other half of your onion in there. This is going to let your meat cook with some flavor. Remember, that your onions are going to sweat, which will give you steam, and slow the browning process, so wait a minute.
Once that beef is beautifully browned (and all other alliterations are in order) strain the fat off, and sling it in the chili. Mix it up, drop the heat to medium low, and stir occasionally.
Stick whatever you have in the fridge with it. Below, I did mine with blue corn chips, spinach, tomatoes, guacamole, and cheese. What is so awesome about this recipe is that the Sriracha and sauce with the beans thicken the chili to the point of not needing sour cream or other expensive dairy.
Number of servings: 8
Total Cost: < $8 (< $1 per serving) if you use the onion, and assume that the sauces and spices run you $1. All prices are from Wal-Mart in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in November 2015.
2) Mexican Appetizers
All my friends know that if they come to my house with their friends, dog, parents, spouse, significant other, or parole officer, everyone is going to get fed. I keep this cheap, protein-packed, vegetarian appetizer in the fridge for our friends who can't dig meat. If you want to splurge, add my award-winning guacamole. Seriously, I have a plaque.
What you need:
Base dip
1) 2 cans refried beans - $2
2) 1 small white onion - $1
3) 1 jar store-brand salsa - $1.79
4) 1 can pitted, sliced black olives - $1.29
5) 1 cup sour cream - < $1
6) 1 bag shredded Mexican cheese - $2.29
Guacamole
1) 2 avocados - $2
2) 1 lime - 49 cents
3) 1 tbsp sour cream - < $1
4) 1 can Rotel - < 75 cents
5) Cilantro - $1
6) Garlic powder
What you do:
Dice your onion.
Spread a layer of refried beans on the bottom of a large plate or foil pan. Build your layers up in whatever order you like. I like to have it topped with olives and cheese.
Would you like to add my guac as a layer? Here's how.
Cut a vertical line around the avocado. Strike the seed with a sharp knife, twist, and remove. Scoop the green goodness from the gorgeous fruit into a bowl. In the bowl, cut the avocado into thin slices, mash it up with a fork. Add the sour cream, a teaspoon of garlic powder, strain, and add the Rotel, and squeeze the juice from half of the lime into the bowl. Finely chop the cilantro, and add a pinch to your bowl.
Number of servings: 12
Total Cost: $9.37 (78 cents per serving) without the guac, $14.61 ($1.22 per serving) with the guac. All prices are from Wal-Mart in Murfreesboro in November 2015.
3) White Chicken Chili
I fought myself for putting two chili recipes on here, but it's cold outside, and this stuff is delicious. It is a little more expensive, but it is still fairly cheap to make, and you can eat it for days.
What you need:
1) Rotisserie chicken - $8.99
2) 4 cans great northern beans - $3.68
3) 1 can sweet corn - 89 cents
4) 1 jalapeno - $1
5) 1 small white onion - $1
What you do:
Dice your onion.
Strain and rinse the beans and throw them in a pot. Do the same thing with the corn. Next, you are going to dice your jalapeno. Here is a demonstration of how to handle a jalapeno without burning your fingers.
Throw half of the diced pepper and half of the onion in the pot. Tear the chicken into pieces, and add it to the mix. Stir, cover, and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, agitating the mixture intermittently. Let it get hot, put it in a bowl, and enjoy!
Number of servings: 10
Total cost: $15.56 ($1.56 per serving) All prices are from Wal-Mart in Murfreesboro in November 2015.
