mafool

Yes. Our son wanted a Foreman grill and uses it frequently. Grill, toaster and blender are the appliances that get used, along with the mircro that was supplied with the apartment.

Binx, I can't reach the upper shelves in our kitchen, either. I have a little folding stool that saves the day!

cathymee

mom60
My S and his three roommates cook all the time! they started when the lived in on campus apartments (two different apts) on a schedule, shopping and cooking on a rotation.I never thought it would work! But lo and behold, this will be their third year cooking and now living together in a 4 person off campus apt seniors). S has become an accomplished cook, with quite the collection of equiptment,spices and cookbooks.
Both the on campus furnished and off campus furnished apts did not have any kitchen goods or cleaning goods included,they did have window blinds but not curtains.
Its a good idea to supply some lightbulbs, and a plunger is a must!!

abasket

Great suggestions! Keep them coming!

We made a trip to Homegoods yesterday for some other stuff and ended up purchasing a nice broom/dustpan and some cute bathroom stuff - wastebasket, toothbrush holder,etc. - all pretty cheap.

zebes

Too funny about the George Forman. Both my kids are totally minimalistic on most kitchen items, but they've got George at the top of their lists. We have one at home because they bought me one for Christmas a couple of years ago, as I absolutely refused to have another item in my kitchen. (totally in the less is more phase of my life ) Anyway, I have to admit -- totally reluctantly of course -- that we've used the bajeebees (sp?) out of that thing.

Oh ... some good shopping places besides garage sales ... old time pottery. D's roommate just picked up their dishes/flatware there last week. Totally mismatched and funky and TOTALLY cheap. <g> Also, we just had a goodwill store open near the university in town. I keep pointing my s and d there, too.

zebes

thumper1

Re: the George Forman...just make sure your kids know how to clean it...and do. DS had a roommate who had one. It was always filthy and dripping oil. The others wanted to toss it into the trash. Once when I was there I TRIED to clean it (roommate was out) but it was beyond hope by that time.

Did anyone mention a cutting board...saves the counters and furniture from cuts.

Also, my son swore by one of those little plastic electric teapots for tea or hot chocolate. He didn't like the microwave (makes the water bubbly) and used his electric teapot every day. Get one with an auto OFF switch. VERY inexpensive at Target or Walmart.

bookworm

Did anyone mention a colander? I think S lives on pasta. Also, measuring cups & spoons, potholder, dish towels.

APOL

Small crock-pot. That way they have dinner waiting for them "after a hard day" of classes, and trudging through the snow...."

marite

hmmm. The list gets longer and longer. S's apartment has two handkerchief-sized areas where he will need to do all his, setting out of utensils and ingredients, chopping, cutting, dish drying. A grill? A crockpot? Where?

thumper1

Actually DS had a tiny crock pot (with recipes of mine cut in half) AND a small rice maker. BOTH got extensive use...but remember, my kid cooks. I would put both of these in the "not essential" category.

binx

My S moved into his apartment in NYC with 2 suitcases last year. (Along with the stuff he'd left in his music locker at school.) He let me pack one of them, then we rearranged them to balance the weight.

Not only did I have to pare down to essentials, but they all had to be pretty lightweight. The stuff I put in:
thin plastic cutting board,
flat metal cookiesheet,
medium fry pan,
small saucepan,
small baking pan,
plastic juice pitcher,
cooking spoon and lifter,
sharp knife,
plastic measuring cup (the kind for liquids - it works well enough for both),
measuring spoons,
pot holder,
tea towel,
manual can opener,
church key,
orange peeler (he's the only one of us who ever uses it, and it's small).
I put a lot of the little things in a large tupperware-type bowl with lid - which he can use as a mixing bowl or storage container.
And probably some other things I don't remember now.

He already had a plate, bowl, mug, glass, and utensils from dorm living.

Over time I've offered other things, but he's turned most of them down. As mentioned previously, he got a second-hand coffee maker and toaster. One roommate has a crock-pot, but S doesn't use it.

Over Christmas he confiscated some old plastic cereal bowls I'd gotten from cereal premiums (the kind with Tony the Tiger, and the Fruit Loops Toucan, and the Rice Krispies kids....) His roommates were thrilled with them. They use bowls often - for cereal, soup, and ice cream. And he bought a $1 silverware tray at IKEA as their kitchen drawer was a little haphazard.

He is a pro at living simply and cheaply. He eats a lot of hard-boiled eggs, oatmeal, pasta, PBJ, fruit. When he eats at the school cafeteria, he goes for the salad - it's cheap, and he doesn't have to buy and prepare veggies at home.

He was home for 2 weeks this summer, and I noticed every meal he requested was heavy on meat!

Singersmom07

3 girls in an apt with large kitchen, they indulged themselves. DD got a wafflemaker for a present and they all love it for weekend party and breakfast. Not practical but fun. That said, the basic tool kit has come in handy. Got it at Target and it has the basic hammer, screwdirvers, wrenches that are needed for little repairs when they do not want to call someone.

akck

I don't think I've seen it mentioned, so I'd add a cookbook to the list. True they can get recipes over the internet, but it's always nice to be able to have basics and be able to scan through in one place. We got S1 a cooking with 4 ingredients book that he used all the time. Oh, and the cookbook should have pictures for every dish so they can see it.

07DAD

Tool kit is a must, as it a good large flashlight, full sized candles and, yes, a box of kitchen matches.

If you student is in a single off campus, addressing a hidden key is a suggestion.

Can opener.

My S filled in the hand me down kitchen items that we had provided him as he figured out what he needed. He didn't ask for any money to do it.

I asked him where he shopped. He said the Dollar Store and thrifts. This is a time when "brand new" didn't seem nearly as important as the lessons in independence, economizing and resourcefulness self-taught by the circumstances and necessity.

abasket

The cookbook is a good idea - I've actually been xeroxing/scanning some of my favorite simple recipes that are D's favorites too.

Funny, we talked about this at dinner last night - she said she was going to have to start gathering recipes and I told her to just remember allrecipes.com. Honestly, I go there more than my recipe box anymore and am almost always happy with the recipes!

07DAD

Oh--about the cookbook--my S had the "basics" of cooking down by the end of HS. It is VERY easy to use the Internet to get a receipe for just about everything.

We offered to photocopy any of his personal favorites from the receipe box, but otherwise you might want to save on the space that cookbooks can take up in a small apartment.