I like to cook how I dress..blending the basics.

I feel like a lot of college kids (and even some adults) don't understand the basic rules of cooking for one, or cooking to save money. They see cooking as something you do for someone you want to see naked someday, or maybe just because you feel really fancy. Flambe, cheesecake, some sort of stir fry with gold flakes in it...whatever. It's a one time deal, generally involves a giant mess, and leaves everyone feeling exhausted. And, it's so complicated that usually the cook wants nothing to do with the kitchen for the next three months.
It doesn't have to be that way. A few tips I follow are:

1. Find a good source of fresh, cheap produce. In my area, we have a ton of farms and even a PriceRite, which to me is wonderful. Produce should be the BULK of your shopping, not easy mac and Twizzlers.

2. Keep the staples on hand. These are:

• onions
• garlic
• potatoes
• a few plum tomatoes
• a cucumber
• a head of lettuce
• green beans OR asparagus
• lemons OR lemon juice
• olive oil
• butter
• eggs
• ground meats/shaved meats/salami
• citrus fruits AND a non citrus fruit
• two avocados
• bread
• pasta
• rice
• cheese of some sort
• salt and other basic spices, dried (oregano, thyme, basil, sage, rosemary)
• For breakfast, keep milk, OJ, tea, instant coffee, a bag of oats or instant oatmeal, and/or a box of cereal along with some dried fruits and jam

I also recommend keeping some chicken drumsticks and a pork loin in the freezer. These things are pretty easy to just whip up and cook, with minimal effort. If you want to be really lazy, keep a frozen pizza in there. But I kind of frown upon this, as pizza that is from the frozen section is usually pumped full of nasties and sodium.

3. Make basic dishes, and LOTS OF THEM, then mix and match. Chili and rice, for example, like the recipe I am going to show next. Or, put the chili on some chopped lettuce. Or, make a salad. Or.... (ok, see? my list above already has a lot of basic meals.)

The cool thing about being a college kid is generally, you don't have a family to worry about feeding. But even if you do, try making a giant pot of something and using it creatively throughout the week. Then, you stretch the dollars that went into that dish even further. Save the fancy stuff for the weekends or special occasions. You'll find that at least that way, cooking will actually save you a TON of money. I spend, currently, about $70 per two weeks of foodies, sometimes a little more if I have to replenish the salad items. I try to eat something green every day.

Here's a basic dish to get you started.

Randomly Herbed Turkey Chili and Brown Rice Bonanza

Ingredients
1 package ground turkey
some grape tomatoes or 1 plum tomato
1 package chili seasoning
1 can red beans, undrained
some random herbs
salt
butter
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
brown rice


1. So. Mince the garlic and chop the onion, and toss them in some butter. Saute until clear or browning. It doesn't really matter which. As the kids say, "Lol"

2. Add the turkey and some salt and random spices. I can't even remember what went into mine. Definitely thyme, rosemary, and sage, but I seem to remember some Herbamare?

3. Cook until turkey is fully browned. No pink stuff! You don't want food poisoning, do you?! Meanwhile, cook your rice. I use a rice cooker, which is a great invention and a super friend to all exasperatingly messy chef like myself.

4. Add some grape tomatoes or slices of regular tomato, whatever. These are just what I had on hand. Stir them in well and mash them up a little. Let those things stew for about five minutes.

5. Add your can of red beans, juice and all. Heat all the way through.

6. Now, I know it is in bad taste to deny you, my loyal readers, frozen pizza, and then turn around and be all WELL NOW YOU ADD SOME PRE-MADE CHILI MIX--but the fact of the matter is that this stuff is like magic powder for meat and bean combos. Also it costs like 65 cents and is good to keep around for flavoring things of all sorts.

7. Mix well, heat through again, and serve on rice or by itself or on a salad or in a sandwich or with a baguette or on pasta or...