<p>My dd will be in her first apartment this year and will be doing most of her own cooking. So, I am trying to gather some recipes that are fast, inexpensive, and relatively healthy.</p>
<p>Thought I would ask advice here to see if anyone had some great ideas that I might have missed.</p>
<p>She has an oven, stove, microwave, slow cooker and indoor grill.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>My son recently moved in to his first apartment. I taught him how to make lasagna, baked chicken, and banana bread! In the first week, he’s made them all. Lasagna isn’t fast but then you have it for a week. My son baked 4 chicken breasts one evening and then had them over the week as well.</p>
<p>We sent our kiddo with a cooking for two cookbook. I don’t remember the name, but all of the recipes were for common, simple things…but made portions large enough to feed two.</p>
<p>Spaghetti (or other pasta) aglio i olio. Super cheap and easy. My son is determined to perfect it over the summer.</p>
<p>[Aglio</a> e Olio Recipe : Emeril Lagasse : Recipes : Food Network](<a href=“http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/aglio-e-olio-recipe/index.html]Aglio”>http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/aglio-e-olio-recipe/index.html)</p>
<p>My Colorado born and raised – and meat loving – daughter was perfectly happy once she learned how to make chili (it also freezes well) corn bread, and fajitas. And since the east coast doesn’t get mexican-related cuisines, she brought with her real chili powder and chipotle chiles when she moved to Boston.</p>
<p>Teach her how to make an omelet. It can work for any meal of the day. </p>
<p>If she’s not an experienced cook, remind her that any ground beef (for lasagna maybe) has to be drained after browning it. One of my kids skipped that little step and ruined a meal.</p>
<p>I second the idea of cooking several chicken breasts at once. The leftovers can be used for sandwiches, tossed salad topping or regular chopped chicken salad.</p>
<p>^ Only if you buy it from a supermarket. If you buy from a butcher, it won’t happen. So glad we switched.</p>
<p>Basic meat sauce…high quality (grass fed if possible) beef, brown with chopped onion, garlic (get the Trader Joes frozen cubes) add a jar of tomato sauce and pour over noodles. If they are adventurous add some chopped carrots, celery and zucchini to the browning mix…gets the veggies into the mix.</p>
<p>DD is in a location which has all of the above ingredients available with little effort…will see where DS winds up…</p>
<p>Get them a good, seasoned cast iron pan. Grease pan with butter. Put in a potato cut in half, cut side down, cut an onion into quarters, cut a sweet potato in half and put cut side down. Put the pan in oven, do not preheat, turn to 375 and bake for about 40 minutes, steam some veggies…put them all together…great healthy meal with leftovers for several more.</p>
<p>Couscous…just pour the heated liquid (broth or water) over the grain and let sit for a few minutes. Add some nuts, raisins and whatever else sounds good (or needs to be used up)…great side dish or main course.</p>
<p>I bought my daughter the checked Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It as everything in it. That kid is the most adventuresome eater. This month, she has made rabbit, liver and onions(which I have never made and she will not make again), and lobster. She uses the Internet for recipes, too.</p>
<p>I printed up about 30 of my sons’ favorite recipes and slid the pages into clear plastic sheet protectors and put them all in a 3-ring skinny binder. I gave each of them a binder when they moved into their first apartments after college graduation. They’re both pretty good cooks and they liked being able to make some of the same dishes they used to have at home.</p>
<p>I started a blog to show my daughter some very simple recipes. Roast pork is one of them, just salt and pepper and put in the oven at 400 degree until it’s brown on the outside. Server with fresh steamed veg or salad. I think it’s easier for them to visualize with photos ala pioneer woman.</p>
<p>At my house, students unemployed in the summer were responsible for much of the grocery shopping and cooking. There wasn’t much fancy cooking, but they learned to cook a bit (and bbq too). </p>
<p>Good hint - Leftovers (including chinese food) can be easily “stretched” by saute with eggs.</p>
<p>Sharing techniques is more practical than recipes I think. Sauteing chicken breasts is a good example of this. You can change the spices and create different pan sauces all using the same technique. Roasting whole chickens is also easy and economical. Never underestimate sauteing onions to start dishes. It makes the whole place smell delicious!</p>
<p>^ likewise you can boil a chicken and use it for whatever you wish to make and use the stock as well.</p>
<p>Do your kids not cook at home already?</p>
<p>My kids did not do much cooking at home. My daughter did some baking, but my son does not do much.</p>
<p>As noted above, most kids now use the Internet to find recipes. Heck, I use the Internet to find recipes!</p>
<p>Some of the internet recipes can be too complicated. So far my daughter has been able to roast the whole chicken. She uses the meat for sandwiches and the bone to make soup.</p>
<p>My boys all worked in restaurants as line cooks and in prep through high school and in college so they didn’t “need” recipes but similar to Patsmom, S2 asked me for cookbook with all the favorite family recipes so I created a cookbook for him.I’ll often get a text telling me he’s at the grocery store picking up supplies to make one or another of the recipes. If I were the OP I’d send the family favorites to the kids. Actually it goes both ways because when S1 was visiting awhile back he was, at the time, working prep in a Mexican restaurant and made a meal for us and I asked him to write down a couple of the recipes. For the novice, include simple recipes that only have a few ingredients and get their “spice” from the ingredients and not require purchasing expensive or exotic spices.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments so far. She does know how to cool, so has the usual pasta, taco and breakfast varieties down pat. I keep telling her that leftovers will be her friend! :-)</p>