<p>NPR recently did a story on this free cookbook <a href=“https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf”>https://8b862ca0073972f0472b704e2c0c21d0480f50d3.googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/good-and-cheap.pdf</a></p>
<p>All of the meals are fairly simple to prepare, at least somewhat nutritious, and quite cheap (it was designed for SNAP recipients).</p>
<p>cold cuts
PB and J
Jif peanut butter with bananas
celery and peanut butter
mac n cheese
lettuce-wrap turkey tacos, (the seasoning is already on the meat, in premade packages, at the grocery store,)
quesadillas
chorizo and egg wrapped in a tortilla
chicken broth, then add any leftover food and veggies to make a soup-peas, potatoes, rice, leftover chicken
frozen burritos
apple chips, oranges, bananas, squash, frozen broccoli
oatmeal with cinnamon and blueberries (1/2 c water with oatmeal)
bacon if he can have pork (pre cook covered in Microwave)
bagels and cream cheese
pepper jack cheese
tomato soup and crackers
tuna
boxed cereals
water bottles
eggs (hard boiled, scrambled)
pre mixed bisquick,
whole wheat English muffins, pepperoni, stringed mozarrella cheese for mini pizzas.
ritz crackers
saltines
and Stash brand “Cinnamon Apple Chamomile” tea for when he’s sick.
Costco pre-prepared foods
Just a few ideas.</p>
<p>I also save the rotisserie chicken carcasses in the freezer, and when I have a couple, I get another one and make chicken soup.
That may be advanced though.
Not that its hard, but all the chopping may be more than he wants to think about.</p>
<p>If he likes Chinese food then for dumplings all you need to do is wait for the water to boil then dump the dumplings in there and stir C: wait 5 mins and TA DA he’s got himself some home cooked chinese food. (Plus it’s healthy and full of protein if you don’t buy the veggie kind) </p>
<p>Lots of good suggestions. My S is house-sitting this summer so had to feed himself for the first time. While he was home for a few weeks, I taught him to make scrambled eggs with cheese, grilled cheese, pasta (w jarred sauce), and tikka masala w brown rice (cut up chicken breast, saute it in a little oil, add jarred sauce and, hopefully, some frozen veggies, let simmer for 15 minutes). When I recently asked, he said he has also bought cereal, yogurt, fruit, bacon, granola bars, frozen pizza. He doesn’t like a lot of variety in his diet, so he’s happy eating the same couple things every day. I did try to convince him that he needs to eat fruit, juice or veggies at least twice a day. And of course, I’m sure he’s eating fast food quite a bit. I’m not crazy about it, but he’s an adult and has to learn to make his own choices. </p>
<p>Some chowhound threads</p>
<p><a href=“http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/966701”>http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/966701</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/859482”>http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/859482</a></p>
<p>My son is attending law school this fall after living on his own a year. A George Foreman grill is a must – he did small steaks to chicken to ground turkey burgers on it. He has a small crock pot, and when it gets cooler, he will use it to make beef vegetable soup – that lasts more than one meal. A pan of ziti is great. Again, it is more than one meal, and he can freeze some for nights when he is super busy studying. He actually e-mailed one of his best friends from undergrad to get some of her recipes, so he can experiment. So consider making him a small cookbook with recipes. </p>
<p>You can add two eggs to Ramen noodles and it gives them some protein.</p>
<p>Scrambled eggs are cheap, easy protein. Also, I would look for cereals with protein - Cheerios has a new one. Make sure he coupons! LOL</p>
<p>Those Perdue short cuts chicken strips are tasty, but they are expensive. Cheapest way is to get the store brand in bulk from Costco or BJ’s. There are lots of little sandwiches you can make with them and some melted cheese. I would also make sure he feels comfortable to throw some chicken in the oven, maybe with some Shake n Bake. Chicken breast goes on sale for 2.69 a pound around here. Not cheap, but not crazy expensive either. </p>
<p>If he’s couponing, look for Dinty Moore and Progresso canned stews to go on sale. He’s young - at this point, all that sodium won’t kill him. My husband and I can’t touch that kind of thing anymore, but I occasionally feed those to my kids on busy fall nights. </p>
<p>Don’t forget about tuna fish! Teach him how to make a a decent tuna salad.</p>
<p>I’d buy a big bag of frozen meatballs and some pasta sauce. That Barilla plus pasta will stretch the meatballs.</p>
<p>Until he expresses an interest in cooking, I’d probably stick with bags of premixed salad and frozen veggies. Super easy and the frozen veggies are actually cheaper than fresh.</p>
<p>If he has access to a car, I think he should get a membership to the BJ’s, particularly if he’s going to be splitting at least some of the costs with roommates (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc.). Young men eat a lot - at least mine do. Even just the peanut butter and bread are so much cheaper there than in the regular grocery store. And the meat is always at the sale price. BJ’s will take coupons to add to the savings. A couple of weeks ago, I paired a BJ’s coupon with two manufacturers coupons and got two 48 ounce jars of peanut butter for $5. That’s $2.50 a piece - you won’t see that in a regular grocery store.</p>
<p>I make tacos sometimes. It’s a pretty easy thing to make. Other than that frozen food is pretty easy. Trader Joes has good frozen food at good prices. </p>
<p>I’ve done what I call chopped eggs (when I try to make fried eggs and I mess it up and I resort to just chopping the eggs into little pieces) and ramen before. It’s about as cheap as it gets but isn’t something you’re going to want to eat all the time. </p>
<p>Another easy thing is a rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and sauteed peppers & onions or spinach and mushrooms, which ever he prefers. I like to make the mashed potatoes with onions but he can just buy a refrigerated pack and warm it up in the microwave. </p>
<p>Cooking protein is so simple. Get out a frying pan. Put some oil or butter in it. Heat it up a little add meat - if you are in a hurry cut your meat into smaller pieces. Thinner chops or cutlets will cook faster than whole breasts or roast sized pieces. Get some spice mixtures to sprinkle on your meat for flavor - or BBQ sauce or use a marinade or Indian sauce. You can add cut up vegetables directly to the pan, or steam them separately. Pasta is super simple, rice too if you use the method where you use extra water and pour it out.</p>
<h1>15 - they have removable grill plates now? Cool! I gave away my Foreman grill (one of the first ones, it was small) because I hated not being able to wash it.</h1>
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<p>TIL, there’s a different way to cook pasta. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I agree cleanup will be a problem too, but he and roommates will have to work that out.
I will pick up the George Foreman grill before he goes or have it delivered. I guess it’s possible one of the other roommates will have one or one comes with the house. I am disappointed there is no Costco nearby. I may have to look into the other clubs.</p>
<p>I know it’s not environmentally friendly - but when H was in college, he and his roommates used paper plates and plastic Solo cups. Made clean up a lot easier. </p>
<p>Megmom, one of the only things I have my kids “trained” to do on autopilot is put dishes in dishwasher. I wouldn’t want to ruin a good thing :)</p>
<p>My daughter loves to cook and even so, she relied on microwavable pouches of rice/quinoa by Seeds of Change to supplement many of her dishes and also during crunch times. She also loves Tasty Bite’s Madras lentils in a microwavable pouch. These are both available at Costco. </p>
<p>He can also get an app for his phone or tablet “how to cook everything” by Mark Bittman, for about $5. I use it too! </p>
<p>My daughter does a lot of her recipe shopping online. She found things like “chipotle cheat chicken” which helps you recreate the taste of Chipotle chicken at home. Once he starts looking around to find things he’s already eaten and loved, he will discover a lot of other recipes.</p>
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<p>Dumplings are a lot cheaper if you’re willing to buy the raw ingredients like raw meat, vegetables, and dumping skins. </p>
<p>While mixing the raw meat and vegetables and mastering the technique in putting in just the right amount and using water on inner skin to seal the dumping up is a bit of a chore, once done, you can assemble your own and freeze them up to be boiled when one’s hungry. </p>
<p>It’s one chore my family starts kids on from the moment we’re around 4-5. Too bad I’m a bit of a slow learner as my assembled dumplings are still nowhere near as artful as those of my parents or same-generationed relatives. </p>
<p>This is all helpful info. I am creating a long list. My son is NOT likely to do dumplings from scratch, but he could do the 5 minute kind. Potstickers are similar, but I think you add a little oil too. </p>
<p>better than a George Foreman grill is a Cuisinart Griddler. it can be opened up to lie flat to use as a griddle ( with the flat plates) or to grill on one side rather than two. With the larger version, you can cook quite a few pancakes at once - hubby loves using it that way.
I think it may have more temperature control options than the GF. Makes great paninis!</p>
<p>I would suggest "How to Cook without a Book"by Pam Anderson. It describes simple techniques that can be applied across many proteins and includes basic recipes. </p>