<p>This might be a weird question, but here it goes.</p>
<p>Does anyone have a hard time buying groceries, and keeping up with it?</p>
<p>I know there are so many other things to worry about in college, but I just suck at it. I make a list, but I get nowhere. I've gotten used to just snacking or dining out because I'm so busy. I'm worried the food in the fridge will spoil before I get a chance to make a meal. And if I do manage to get the ingredients for a dish, I'm too tired to cook it and eventually goes to waste or I drop it off at the local soup kitchen.</p>
<p>It's weird because when friends come over to my place, they look in the fridge and see: eggs, three types of juice, yogurt, maybe some chicken, and fruits. My freezer pretty much consists of hot pockets and tv dinners from Trader Joe's, but that's about it. On the other hand, I'm well stocked on stacks and munchies lol. I'm pretty much going to stop buying groceries from now on.</p>
<p>The only reason you suck at this is because you are wasting money buying things you won’t get around to cooking.</p>
<p>Buy something you can make that doesn’t take too much effort since you seem kind of lazy. I’d buy bread and lunch meat, cheese, mayo…things for sandwiches. Stock up on some soup like ramen. Buy some ground beef, taco seasoning, and tortillas. Easy way to make tacos and it is very simple to make spaghetti. </p>
<p>You can also buy pre-made casserole dishes, stick that in the oven. Voila. Only buy fruits you KNOW you will eat. </p>
<p>Buy canned food such as corn or mixed veggies if you like. All you really do is pour it into a pot and let it sit there until its done. Same thing if you get a rice cooker and throw the rice in, add water, and let it sit until ready.</p>
<p>Are you shopping for your friends or are you shopping for you? </p>
<p>I’d buy chips, soda, maybe a few pastry treats. Maybe put some ice cream in the fridge. Seems like you already have that down, though.</p>
<p>Blenders are nice. So easy to make yummy smoothies and obviously you just pour all of it into the blender, lol. I think they’re pretty filling.</p>
<p>I usually only buy groceries for what I want to make that day or the next day. It’s not much of a hassle for me to get to the grocery store so I can do that without problems. The only exceptions are things that last a long time like tortillas, rice, oats, anything in a can or jar.</p>
<p>What you need is practice. That, and some easy, fast but decent recipes. I’m not sure what kind of schedule that you have that you can’t even whip up a quick meal, but maybe it’s more than you THINK you won’t be able to manage something quick and easy. I gave both of my kids a book called “Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen!” It’s full of practical first-time cooking advice. If you can’t find that one, there are others for new college students or kids living on their own. They offer practical shopping advice and simple recipes. Scratch cooking will be a lot cheaper than even TJ’s frozen meals. And there are a number of things that you can make that allow you to get several meals from, so you’re really only cooking on night then just heating up the next two or three nights.</p>
<p>I taught my kids how to cook but one your own it can be intimidating. A “guide book” was what they needed to get started. Now one of them is starting cooking school.</p>
<p>For $20-$30 you should get yourself a “slow-cooker”, or “crock pot”. They are soo easy to use, and do the work while you are in classes or out all day. You come home, and dinner is ready! Like, you can throw some chicken broth, boneless chicken and veggies (fresh, like baby carrots, potatoes, or green beans, broccoli) in the crock pot, turn it on low, and in 8 hours have dinner (Or 6 hours on high). You can make chicken soup in it the same way, just throw in rice or noodles, more broth and flavoring, and shred up the chicken when it is done cooking. There are lots of recipes online for ideas in a crock pot, so you don’t even have to spend money on a book.
Also, buy frozen strawberries, etc, and make smoothies with them. The frozen fruit won’t spoil, and smoothies are healthy and good for a quick breakfast/lunch. Also, do what a lot of working families do. If you have a day with no classes, or free weekend day, use that to do cooking. Then, put in portion size containers, freeze, and you have meals ready made when you want them later. You can do this with lots of foods. A quick pasta dish is boil a box of pasta, brown some hamburg or ground turkey in a fry pan and season with salt, pepper, oregano, etc, and get a jar of spaghetti sauce (tomatoes are very good for you). Drain the pasta, stir in the hamburg/turkey, and jar of sauce. You could even start by cooking up some onion in the fry pan first before browning the meat if you like onion (peppers too). Then, freeze in little containers. This will also last for about 4 days in the fridge if you just want to eat off of it for a few days. Easy to make when having friends over, not too expensive, and with garlic bread and salad (from a bag or put together yourself) tastes great. Definitely try to cook when you have an afternoon free. You’ll be more relaxed, not tired and hungry, and enjoy the process more.</p>
<p>Lol, thank you all for the tips/advices. I’m a little embarrassed now, really. My mom does own one of those crock pots, so I’m going to ask her if I can borrow it for the semester. Getting a blender is a terrific idea, so I’ll keep that in mind. Despite all my laziness, however, I did manage to cook my first MEAL yesterday after posting this topic! I sauteed onions, garlic, broccoli with chicken and brown rice. It turned out pretty good, and it was pretty fun lol. Thank you guys so much for the quick recipes and tips, I really appreciate all of them!</p>
<p>I won’t be doing grocery shopping much. I live out of state, and the closest grocery shop is a 12min bus ride to a nearby town. My school is in the middle of a large area of forests/farms (19,400 undergrads, but no shopping areas, lol).</p>
<p>How do you have the space to cook? You live in a dorm, apartment, suite? For me my kitchen is my bedroom and also my living room, yet i manage to make grilled chicken and vegetables with my George Foreman grill.
Although doing so is like a special ops operation because the grill is among banned cooking appliances. So whenever i plan on cooking, i open a window and turn a fan on for circulation. Next I have my roommate keep an eye out for the RA that roams our halls. Then spray some febreze to cover the sweet aroma of sizzling chicken.This may seem outrageous, but I certainly don’t want to get fined or put on probation for setting off the fire alarm. </p>
<p>New mission, Operation Panini at 21:00 hours</p>
<p>I had trouble with this at first. Find something to make that can be your go-to dish: for me, it’s chicken, rice and green beans. Don’t be afraid to make extra and keep them as left overs. Keep some boxed dinners in case you burn everything (which happened to me just last week).</p>
<p>Shopping daily is best if you can manage it. Then you don’t have to worry about the food going bad (because you only bought enough for that day), and your produce is always super fresh.</p>
<p>As for food, learn to make simple things, especially if you can get your hands on a crock pot. A go-to dish is a great idea too- I have two-three: a simple gnocchi recipe I found on allrecipes, cacio e pepe, & pasta aglio, olio, e peperoncino. They sound and look fancy, but don’t take more than 10-15 minutes to make:)</p>
<p>sounds like you enjoy healthier stuff, good start :)</p>
<p>I use the internet for recipes like crazy - allrecipes.com is a favorite because people rate the recipes so you have some idea if they’re good. Then I make something that has stuff I like in it and i make a ton. And then…USE THE FREEZER. Like if you like lasagna, make a big tray of it (with veggies, meat, whatever you’re into) and eat some, then cut it up and put individual servings in ziplocs or tupperware or something that’s easy to pull out one meal and heat up.</p>
<p>If you go for a crock pot, same idea. Take the time once a week to cook a boatload of whatever then freeze individual portions. Saves a lot of time and you get better quality food, cheaper than premade frozen meals.</p>
<p>If no/tiny freezer you can do the same thing just in smaller portions. Most cooked food will last a week.</p>
<p>If you have to go the ramen route, you can add cooked chicken, greens (watercress, spinach) or canned/frozen veggies to it to make a more filling and healthier meal.</p>
<p>I’m a snack-a-holic, so I always have cheese, pita chips, hummus, veggies, ect. That way I can have mini picknicks for lunch or a quick dinner.</p>
<p>If you want a nice sit down dinner, buy the ingredients the day before and plan to cook them. </p>
<p>Another nice tip is to make a dish and freeze it in individual containers for future meals. Things like soup, lasagna, and casseroles freeze nicely.</p>